[Campbell Biology P.540] Referring to the "WHAT IF?" section and assuming a population is in... | Practice Question

Referring to the "WHAT IF?" section and assuming a population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, if the frequency of the CR allele p were 0.6, what would be the predicted frequencies of the CRCR, CRCW, and CWCW genotypes?

  • A: 36% CRCR, 48% CRCW, 16% CWCW
  • B: 60% CRCR, 40% CRCW, 0% CWCW
  • C: 36% CRCR, 16% CRCW, 48% CWCW
  • D: 24% CRCR, 48% CRCW, 28% CWCW

Explanation

If the frequency of the CR allele p is 0.6, then the frequency of the CW allele q must be 1 - 0.6 = 0.4. Using the Hardy-Weinberg equations: CRCR = p² = 0.6 ² = 0.36 36% CRCW = 2pq = 2 0.6 0.4 = 0.48 48% CWCW = q² = 0.4 ² = 0.16 16%