Question

Imagine a large source popul ation of 500 flies at a particular time that we will call t0 . the flies have brown or ebony bodies. based on the information given above, how many total alleles for body color exist in the population?

Answer 1

As the population is possessing two phenotypes of the body color, it must then have at least two alleles for the gene of body color. As diploid (2n), each fly exhibits two alleles of the gene for the body color, one allele inherited from the father and one from the mother.  

Therefore, a total number of alleles of the gene for the color of the body in the population is:  

2 × population size, here 2 indicates each fly has two alleles of the gene, that is, 2 × 500 = 1000.  

Hence, the total number of alleles of the stated gene in the population is 1000.  

Answer 2

The flies have two phenotypes for body color. Each fly has two alleles determining the body color. Therefore, the total number of alleles for body color would be 1000 in numbers.  

Further Explanation:

A part of DNA that determines a functional trait is called a gene. A trait is a feature that can be passed on to future generations such as eye color or height. There are different versions of a gene present in different people. These different forms of the gene are known as alleles. For instance, for different hair colors, different alleles are responsible.

The genes never occur in pairs and result in the expression of a given trait whereas alleles always form pairs and bring about variation in the expression of a particular trait. The alleles in a pair can be dominant or recessive. When both the alleles of a gene are the same (either dominant or recessive) they are termed as homozygous while if both the alleles are different in the pair, they are called heterozygous.

A set of genes together makes up a genotype that determines a particular trait in an individual. The physical expression of a genotype is termed as phenotype.  

Here, the total population of flies = 500

The phenotype of flies = brown color and ebony color

There are two phenotypes of body color. This represents that there must be atleast two alleles of the gene determining the body color. Each fly would exhibit two alleles for either ebony or brown bodies, where one allele is contributed by the mother and the other allele is from the father.

Therefore, total allele count in the population of 500 flies contributing to the body color would be:

2 x population size, where 2 indicates the number of alleles from each fly.

As a result,

2 x 500 = 1000

Hence, in the population of 500 flies, the total alleles for brown or ebony bodies are 1000.

Learn More:

1. Learn more about meiosis brainly.com/question/1600165

2. Learn more about the process of molecular diffusion in a cell brainly.com/question/1600165

3. Learn more about human sperm and egg cell brainly.com/question/1626319

Answer Details:

Grade: College biology

Chapter: Gene Interaction

Subject: Biology

Keywords:

Genes, alleles, trait, dominant, recessive, genotype, phenotype, homozygous, heterozygous, gamete.