TUTORIAL 5

TOPIC : POPULATION GENETIC

PART A : MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. Which of the following statement defines a gene pool?

A. The total number of the genes of all the individuals in a population
B. The sharing of genes between two populations through interbreeding
C. The random changes in the allelic frequency in a small breeding population
D. A population in which the allelic and genotype frequencies do not change from
one generation to the next

2. What parameter should be calculated in order to know whether a population is in Hardy-

Weinberg equilibrium?
A. Gene pool
B. Genetic drift
C. Allele frequency
D. Gene substitution

3. Which of the following describes a population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

A. The size of the population is small
B. Natural selection occurs
C. Reproduction happen selectively
D. Mutation does not occur in the population

4. What is the number of gene pool in a population of 513 peoples in St. Claire Island?
A. 912
B. 1026
C. 1206
D. 1366

5. Consider a hypothetical population in equilibrium with a gene having alleles A and a.

This population consists of 500 individuals such that 125 individuals are genotype AA,
250 are Aa and 125 are genotype aa. Therefore, what is the allele frequency for allele A?
A. 1.00
B. 0.75
C. 0.50
D. 0.25
6. The cystic fibrosis ailment on the pancreas is a condition of recessive homozygous. If
one in every 2000 individuals in a population suffers this ailment, what is the frequency
of dominant allele in that population?
A. 0.001
B. 0.022
C. 0.043
D. 0.977

7. The ability to taste PTC is controlled by the dominant allele T, while the inability to taste
PTC is controlled by the recessive allele t. In a population, 70% can taste PTC. By
assuming the population is in equilibrium, what is the frequency of allele t in the
population mentioned?
A. 0.20
B. 0.30
C. 0.45
D. 0.55

8. In a population of 100 000 people, 10 of them are albinos. What is the frequency of the
albinism carriers?
A. 0.01
B. 0.02
C. 0.20
D. 0.99

9. The genotype frequency of a mutant which is recessive homozygous is 0.16. What is the
frequency of the mutant allele?
A. 0.84
B. 0.60
C. 0.40
D. 0.32

10. In an equilibrium population of a Persian cat, the dominant phenotype frequency is 0.84.
What is the frequency of the recessive genotype for this cat in the next three generations?
A. 0.84
B. 0.9
C. 0.16
D. 0.4
PART B: STRUCTURE QUESTIONS

1. In large population of butterflies, 557 are white while 396 are brown. Assume that white color is
dominant, determine the followings.

(i) Allelic frequencies of each allele

[2 marks]
Number of butterflies in the population =557+396 = 953
Frequency of homozygous recessive, q2 =396/953 =0.416
Frequency of recessive allele, q=√0.416 =0.645 1
p + q=1
p= 1-q
Frequency of dominant allele,p =1-0.645 =0.355 1

(ii) Expected genotypic frequencies

[3 marks]
1
AA = P2 =(0.355)2 = 0.126
Aa= 2pq=2 (0.355)(0.645) = 0.458 1
Aa= q2= (0.645)2= 0.416 1

(iii) Number of heterozygous butterflies

[2 marks]
2pq x 953 1

=436 1

(iv) Assuming that Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is met, how many white butterflies would you
expect to find among the 1234 butterflies of the next generation?
[3 marks]

1
Frequency of white phenotype =0.584
Butterflies with white phenotype =0.584 x 1234 1
=721 1
2. In moths, the dominant wing color is melanic (M) and the recessive wing color is grey
(m). In a population of 1000 moths that mates randomly, it is found that 750 moth are
melanic.

(a) Calculate the frequency of the dominant and recessive allele in the population.
[2 marks]
Frequency of recessive allele, m
q2 = 250/1000
q = 0.5
Frequency of recessive allele, m = 0.5 1

Since p + q = 1
Frequency of dominant allele, p = 1 - 0.5
p = 0.5
Frequency of recessive allele, m = 0.5 1

(b) Calculate the percentage of carrier in the population. [3 marks]

Genotype frequency of carrier = 2pq

Since p = 0.5 , q = 0.5
So that 2pq = 2 (0.5) (0.5)
= 0.5 1

Number of carrier in the population

0.5 x 1000 = 500 1

Percentage of carrier
500/1000 x 100 = 50% 1

(c) (i) Calculate the frequency of recessive allele in the next generation if all of the grey
moth in this generation were killed. [3 marks]

No. of MM, P2 = 0.25 X 1000 = 250

No. of Mm, 2pq = 0.5 X 1000 = 500
No. of mm, q2 = 0.25 X 1000 = 250 (killed)

New population; 1000-250 = 750 1

New gene pool; 750X2= 1500 1

Frequency of recessive allele, m = (500X1)

1500
1
 = 0.333
(ii) Calculate the possible number of grey individual in this new population.
[2 marks]
Frequency of recessive genotype, mm
q2 = (0.333) 2
= 0.111 1

Number of grey individual = 0.111 X 750

= 83 individual 1

PART C: ESSAY QUESTIONS

1. A population of laboratory mice named as JDO species was set up by a group of
scientists. The types of the mice color produced are controlled by a pair of alleles where
the dominant allele controls black color of mice (B). The types of mice colors and their
genotypes are shown below. In the population consist of 800 mice, the scientist found
that:
665 mice are Black
135 mice are Golden brown

a) i) State Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

[1 mark]
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium state that allele and genotype frequency of a
population remain constant from a generation to the next generation.

ii) List all of the Hardy-Weinberg assumption to achieve an equilibrium

population. [5 marks]

Large population size

Random mating
No mutation
No migration
No natural selection
 iii) By assuming that the population of JDO mice is in genetic equilibrium,
calculate the dominant and recessive allele frequency. [2 marks]

iv)
Frequency of recessive allele, q
q2 = 135/800
q = 0.411

Frequency of recessive allele, q = 0.411 1

Since p + q = 1
Frequency of dominant allele, p = 1 - 0.411
p = 0.589
Frequency of recessive allele, p = 0.589 1

v) Calculate the possible number of homozygous dominant and heterozygous

mice in the population. [4 marks]
Number of homozygous dominant = P X population size
2

= (0.589)2 X 800 1
= 278 1

Number of heterozygous = 2pq X population size

= 2(0.589)(0.411) X 800 1

= 387 1

b) i) If 200 golden brown mice are added in the population by the scientist, calculate
the new dominant and recessive allele frequency. [4 marks]

No. of P2 = 278
No. of 2pq = 387
No. of q2 = 135 + (200 added)

New population; 278+387+335 = 1000 1

New gene pool; 1000X2 = 2000 1

Frequency of recessive allele, q = (335X2) + (387X1)

2000
= 0.529 1

Frequency of recessive allele, q = (278X2) + (387X1)

2000
= 0.471 1
 ii) Calculate the expected number of heterozygous individual in the new
population. [2 marks]
Number of heterozygous = 2pq X population size
= 2(0.471)(0.529) X 1000 1

= 498 1

iii)Explain whether the new population obeys Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or not?

[2 marks]
The new population does not obey Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium because
the allele and genotype frequency of new population (new generation) is not
the same as the original population.
This is due to addition or migration of new individuals into the original
population.

2. The allele for black hair (B) is dominant over that for grey hair (b). The alleles for B and
b have frequencies p and q respectively. In a randomly mating population of 600 dogs,
216 have grey hair.

a) What is meant by a randomly mating population?

[2 marks]
In a randomly mating population, each individual has an equal chance to mate
freely or randomly with any other individual from the opposite sex within the
population.
b) Assuming that the Hardy-Weinberg principle applied, calculate the frequency of the
dominant allele and recessive allele in the population.
[ 4 marks]
Frequency of the recessive genotype bb
q2 = 216/600
q2 = 0.36 1

Frequency of recessive allele (b)

q2 = 0.36
q = √0.36
q = 0.6 1
 Frequency of dominant allele (B)
p = 1 - q
= 1 - 0.6 1

= 0.4 1

c) If all the 216 dogs with grey hair were killed and the rest were allowed to mate randomly,

(i) calculate the frequency of the dominant and recessive alleles in the new generation.
[5 marks]

If 216 grey dogs were killed from the population

Number of dogs left = 600 - 216
= 384 1

Number of homozygous dominant individuals (BB)

= p2 x 600
= 0.16 x 600
= 96
Dominant alleles
= 96 x 2 alleles
= 192 1

Number of heterozygous individual (Bb)

= (384-96)
= 288
Recessive allele
= 288 x 2
= 576 alleles 1

(288 dominant alleles and 288 recessive alleles)

 Frequency of dominant allele in new generation
p = 192 + 288 = 480
192 + 576 768
= 0.625 1

Frequency of recessive allele in new generation

q = 1 - 0.625 = 0.375 1

(ii) calculate the various genotypes frequencies of the F1 offspring.

[3 marks]
Frequency of dominant homozygous (BB)
p2 = (0.625)2 = 0.3906 1

Frequency of recessive homozygous (bb)

1
q2 = (0.375)2 = 0.1406
Frequency of heterozygous (Bb)
2pq = 2 x 0.625 x 0.375 = 0.4688 1

(iii) calculate the percentage of the dogs with black hair and grey hair in the F1
population.
[2 marks]
Percentage of the dogs with black hair in new generation
= (0.3906 + o.4688) x 100%
= 0.8594 x 100%
= 85.94% 1

Percentage of dogs with grey hair in new generation

= 0.1406 x 100%
1
= 14.06%