Hardy Weinberg Principle: Calculating Allele Frequency in a Fish Population

[xChee]

Homework Statement

In a population on fish, 40 have red eyes and 260 have blue eyes. Allele for red is dominant over blue alleles. Use hardy Weinberg principle to calculate the frequency of the white and red allele.

Homework Equations

p² + 2pq + q² = 1

q + p = 1

The Attempt at a Solution

p = 96.67 %

i took 40 and divided it by 300 and for 13.3% as my answer. but i got it wrong...I'm pretty much stuck, help?

 

[Borek]

Assuming p is the frequency of the dominant allele, can you use p & q to express what fraction of the population has red eyes?

Note: $\frac{40}{300}$ is the fraction of the population with red eyes, but it is not equal to p.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

It is also helpful is to express the fraction of the population that has blue eyes in terms of q.

 

[Borek]

It is also helpful is to express the fraction of the population that has blue eyes in terms of q.

Good point. Much simpler than what I attempted to do.

 

[DeeNos]

I would like to clarify a few things about the Hardy Weinberg principle and its application in this scenario. The Hardy Weinberg principle is a mathematical model used to predict the genotype and allele frequencies in a population that is not evolving. It assumes that there is no natural selection, no genetic drift, no gene flow, and random mating within the population. In order to apply this principle, we need to know the number of individuals with each genotype, not just the number of individuals with a particular phenotype.

In this scenario, we are given the number of individuals with red and blue eyes, but we do not know the genotype of these individuals. Therefore, we cannot use the Hardy Weinberg equation to calculate the frequency of the white and red allele. We also need to know the total number of individuals in the population in order to calculate the allele frequencies.

Additionally, the Hardy Weinberg principle assumes that there are only two alleles for a particular gene, in this case, the red and blue alleles. However, in reality, there could be other alleles for eye color that we are not aware of. Therefore, it is not appropriate to use this principle to calculate the allele frequencies in this fish population.

In order to accurately calculate the allele frequencies, we would need to know the genotypes of the individuals in the population and the total number of individuals. This information could be obtained through genetic testing or by performing a breeding experiment. Without this information, it is not possible to accurately calculate the allele frequencies using the Hardy Weinberg principle.