Question

A population of naked mole rats has a recessive allele that in the homozygous state leads to a distinct splotchy skin phenotype. The un-mutated allele is denoted A whereas the splotchy allele is a. Naked mole rats are blind as well as naked and show no preference or distaste for the splotchy allele. There are no other evolutionary pressures and so it is in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium at this locus. The frequency of the a allele is 0.2. What is the percentage of the population that is heterozygous at this locus (Aa)?Select one:
a. 0.2
b. 2.0
c. 4.0
d. 16.0
e. 32.0

Answer 1

Answer:

e. 32%

Explanation:

The given population is in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. This means that the population follows following equations:

Frequency of dominant allele (p) + frequency of recessive allele (q) = 1

Frequency of heterozygous genotype in the population= 2pq

According to the given information, the frequency of the recessive allele "a" in the population is=0.2

So, the frequency of the dominant allele (p) would be= 1-0.2= 0.8

And frequency of heterozygous genotype in the population= 2pq = 2 x 0.8 x 0.2 = 0.32 = 32%