Question

Suppose that in gerbils, there are two alleles for fur color. Gerbils with a dominant allele are brown, and black fur color is recessive.

If 35%
of a gerbil population has black fur, what percent is expected to be heterozygous?

A
17%

B
41%

C
48%

D
59%

Answer 1

There is the concept that some genes are not always identical in their alleles. One allele may be dominant while the other may be recessive. This is also referred to as the heterozygous state. The number of heterozygous in a population can be calculated using the formulas: p + q= 1 and p^{2}  + 2pq + q^{2}  = 1

The percentage of the population expected to be heterozygous would be 48% (option c)

if 35% of the population has black fur which is recessive, q^{2}  = 0.35 (35/100)

and q= \sqrt{0.35} = 0.5916

since p + q = 1 and q = 0.5916

p = 1 - 0.5916 = 0.4084

From the equation p^{2}  + 2pq + q^{2}  = 1

2pq represent the heterozygous population

2pq = 2 x 0.5916 x 0.4084

= 0.4832 ~ 0.48 = 48%.

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