HARDY WEINBERG LAW OF GENETIC

EQUILIBRIUM
LECTURE-
SEM-II CC-8
Ppt by Dr Anita Mishra
PG Dept of Zoo
PURNEA UNIVERSITY PURNEA
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is a principle stating that the genetic variation in a population will
remain constant from one generation to the next in the absence of disturbing factors. When mating is
random in a large population with no disruptive circumstances, the law predicts that both genotype and
allele frequencies will remain constant because they are in equilibrium.

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can be disturbed by a number of forces, including mutations, natural
selection, nonrandom mating, genetic drift, and gene flow. For instance, mutations disrupt the equilibrium
of allele frequencies by introducing new alleles into a population

. Similarly, natural selection and nonrandom mating disrupt the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium because
they result in changes in gene frequencies. This occurs because certain alleles help or harm the
reproductive success of the organisms that carry them.

Another factor that can upset this equilibrium is genetic drift, which occurs when allele frequencies grow
higher or lower by chance and typically takes place in small populations. Gene flow, which occurs when
breeding between two populations transfers new alleles into a population, can also alter the Hardy-
Weinberg equilibrium.
.
Because all of these disruptive forces commonly occur in nature, the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
rarely applies in reality. Therefore, the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium describes an idealized state,
and genetic variations in nature can be measured as changes from this equilibrium state.

This fundamental idea in population genetics was offered by the Englishman G.H.
Hardy (a mathematician) and the German W. Weinberg simultaneously in the year
1908. It is known as the Hardy-Weinberg law.

The law forms the foundation of population genetics and of modern evolutionary theory.
The law states that: both gene (allelic) frequencies and genotype frequencies will remain
constant from generation to generation in an infinitely large interbreeding population in
which mating is at random and no selection, migration or mutation occurs.

Should a population initially be in disequilibrium, one generation of random mating is

sufficient to bring it into genetic equilibrium and thereafter the population will remain in
equi­librium (unchanged in gametic and zygotic frequencies) as long as Hardy-Weinberg
condition persists.
 Hardy-Weinberg law depends on the following kinds of genetic equilibrium for
its full attainment.
1. The population is infinitely large and mate at random.

2. No selection is operative.
3. No mutation is operative in alleles.
4. The-population is closed, i.e., no immigration or emigration occurs.
5. Meiosis is normal so that chance is the only factor operative in gametogenesis.

The law describes a theoretical situation in which a population is undergoing no evolu­tionary

change.

It explains that if evolutionary forces are absent; the population is large; its individuals have
random mating, each parent produces roughly equal number of gametes and the gametes
produced by the mating parents combine at random and the gene frequency remains
constant; then the genetic equilibrium of the genes in question is maintained and the
variability present in the population is preserved.
Suppose there is a panmictic population with gene (allele) A and a on one locus, then the
frequency of gametes with gene A will be the same as the frequency of gene A and similarly
the frequency of gametes with a will be equal to the frequency of gene a. Let us presume
that the numerical proportion of different gene in this population is as follows:
AA- 36%
Aa- 48%
aa -16%
Since AA individuals make up 36% of the total population they will contribute
approximately 36% of all the gametes formed in the population.

These gametes will possess gene A. Similarly, aa individuals will produce 16% of all the
gametes.

But the gametes from Aa individuals will be of two types i.e., with gene A and gene a
roughly in equal proportion.

Since these constitute together 48% of the total population, they will contribute 48%
gametes but out of them 24% will possess gene A and the other 24% will have gene a.
Hence the overall output of the gametes ‘will be as follows:
If frequency of gene A is represented by p and frequency of gene a is represented by q
and there is a random mating of the gametes with allele A arid a at the equilibrium state,
the population will contain the following frequencies of the genes A and a, generation
after generation.

AA + 2Aa + aa genotype

p2 + 2pq + q2 gene (allele) frequency

The above results could be explained by relying on the theory of probability.

In a population of large size, the probability of receiving the gene A from both parents
will be p x p = p2, similarly, for gene a it will be q x q = q 2 and the probability of being
heterozygous will be pq + pq = 2pq.

The relationship between gene (allele) frequency and genotype frequency can be
expressed as

p2+2pq + q2 = 1 or (p + q)2 = 1

This is known as Hardy-Weinberg formula or binomial expression.

If the frequency of one of the alleles (e.g., p) is known then the frequency of the other
allele (q = 1-p) is known, and the frequencies of the homozygous genotypes (p 2 and q2) as
well as those of the heterozygous genotype (2pq) can be calculated.

Or, if the frequency of homozygous recessive individuals in the population (a/a or q 2) is

known, then the frequencies of the a allele (q) and the A allele (p or 1-q) can be
calculated.

It is then possible to predict genotypic frequencies in the present and further

generations.

From this binomial expression, proposed by Hardy and Weinberg, it is clear that in a
large random mating population not only gene frequencies but also the genotype
frequencies will remain constant.