Question

Consider the following three populations of birds. Assume HW equilibrium. With these birds red coloring is recessive, while brown coloring is dominant. Population 1 has 670 birds, of which 603 are brown and 67 are red. Population 2 has 100 birds, of which 90 are brown and 10 are red. Population 3 has 30 birds, of which 27 are brown and 3 are red. In which population is the frequency of the allele for red coloring the highest? Which population is most likely to be subject to a bottleneck effect? In which population would it be least likely that an accident would significantly alter the frequency of the brown allele?

Answer 1

Answer:

Red allele frequency will be highest in population II

Population III can undergo bottleneck effect

The frequency of the brown allele will  least likely be altered in the population I

Explanation:

Population I -

Total population - $670$

Brown birds - $603$

Red birds - $67$

Population II

Total population - $100$

Brown birds - $90$

Red birds - $10$

Population III

Total population - $30$

Brown birds - $27$

Red birds - $3$

Frequency of red birds in population I

$\frac{67}{670} = 0.1$

Frequency of red birds in population II

$\frac{10}{90} = 0.11$

Frequency of red birds in population III

$\frac{3}{30} = 0.1$

Red allele frequency will be highest in population II and it will be equal to $\sqrt{0.11} = 0.33$ as compared to $0.31$ in case of population I and III

Population III can undergo bottleneck effect because of smaller population size

The frequency of the brown allele will  least likely be altered in the population that has highest  brown individual , i.e population I