Question

Hardy-Weinberg equation helps in finding:
(I) Frequency of recessive allele responsible for X-linked recessive disease in a population
(II) Frequency of occurrence of alleles of a gene in a population
(III) Frequency of mutant gene in a population
(IV) Frequency of heterozygotes in a population

Choose the correct option.

• A. I, III, and IV
• B. I, II, and III
• C. II, III, and IV
• D. All of the above

Answer 1

The correct option is D All of the above

Hardy-Weinberg equation is a simple mathematical model developed independently by Godfrey H. Hardy a British mathematician and Wilhelm Weinberg a German physician. This model describes the relationship between frequency of alleles and genotype in a population.

According to it, the allelic and genomic frequencies in a population remain constant from one generation to the next, only if the population size is large and randomly mating along with no occurrence of mutation, migration, and natural selection in the population. This is not possible in an evolving population; but it is applicable in the ideal condition where a population will not evolve and at the same time it is used to determine the progress of evolution by just comparing the two generations' allelic frequencies.

The Hardy-Weinberg equation is ${}^{}$ p^2+2\mathrm{pq}+q^2=1$$
where, p = allele frequency of dominant allele and q = allele frequency of the recessive allele in the population.

In the equation, $p^2$ represents the frequency of the homozygous dominant genotype (AA), $q^2$ represents the frequency of the homozygous recessive genotype (aa), and 2pq represents the frequency of the heterozygous genotype (Aa).

With the help of the Hardy-Weinberg equation one can find all the above mentioned frequencies.