Hardy-Weinberg Principle

If a population meets certain conditions,

frequencies of particular alleles and
genotypes can be predicted from one
generation to the next.
The Hardy-Weinberg Principle (ability to predict
genotype and phenotype frequencies) only holds
true under these conditions:

 large population
 random mating (no sexual preference)
 constant allele frequency over time
 no mutation
 no immigration or emigration
 I = INTO, E = EXIT
 no allele-specific mortality (if you are asked
for the 5 conditions, exclude this one)
Foundations of H-W Principles
 If there are two alleles of a gene in a
population, there are three possible
genotypes. Ex: AA, Aa, and aa
 The frequencies of the two alleles in the
population is usually represented by the
letters p and q. Ex: p = 0.4 and q = 0.6
 The total frequency of both alleles in the
population is 1.0, so
p+q=1
Foundations, continued
 If there is random mating in a population
 the chance of inheriting two copies of the first
of two alleles is p x p, or p2
 the chance of inheriting two copies of the
second of the two alleles is q x q, or q2
 the expected frequency of the heterozygous
genotype is (p x q) + (q x p), or 2pq
 the sum of all of the possible genotype
frequencies in the population must equal 1,
therefore, p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1
Hardy-Weinberg Equation
p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1

 Other important equation to remember

is: p+q=1
In other words….
 the Hardy-Weinberg Principle only holds
true if no evolution is occurring
 Therefore, it can be used to see if a
certain gene is undergoing evolution in
a given population at a given time
Key points in performing calculations:
 If the frequency of one allele is known, the
frequency of the other can be calculated
using the equation p + q = 1;
 If the frequency of the recessive phenotype is
known, then the frequencies of the
homozygous dominant and the heterozygous
genotypes can be calculated using the Hardy-
Weinberg equation
Examples
 If the frequency of the recessive allele (q) is
0.79, what is the frequency of the dominant
allele (p)?
 q = 1 – 0.79
 p = 0.21
 If one individual in a population of 10,000
shows the recessive phenotype, what are the
frequencies of the dominant and recessive
alleles?
 q2 = 1/10,000 = 0.0001
 q = 0.01
 p = 1 – 0.01
 p = 0.99
 If the frequency of q2 = 0.0049, what is the
frequency of the heterozygote?
 q2 = 0.0049
 q = 0.07
 p = 1 – 0.07
 p = 0.93
 2pq = 2 x 0.93 x 0.07
 2pq = 0.1302
 The frequency of the allele R for round pollen
grains is dominant to the allele r for long
grains. In 200 plants, 32 have long grains.
How many plants are heterozygous?
 rr = q2 = 32/200 = 0.16 and q = 0.4
 p = 1 - 0.4 = 0.6
 2pq = 2 x 0.6 x 0.4 = 0.48
 0.48 x 200 plants = 96 plants are
heterozygous
Now, Try It (1)
 In a population of wolves, grey muzzle wolves
represent 84 of 100 wolves, and the rest are
white. What are the allele frequencies for
each genotype?
Try It (2)
 Yellow moths represent a majority of a
population, with 64% of the moths being a
hybrid. Determine the allele frequencies.
Try It (HARD) sticker opp!
 In a population of zebras, white stripes is
dominant to black stripes. The following
shows the original population. If no evolution
is occurring, what would the number of white
striped need to be?
 Original (P) = 34 white striped out of 124
 F1 = _____ white striped out of 376