Question

How do you calculate heterozygosity?

Answer 1

Heterozygosity refers to the frequency of heterozygous genotypes in a population.

1. High heterozygosity is an indication of more genetic variation.
2. In the Hardy Weinberg equation, 2pq is the measure of heterozygosity. This is for a gene with two alleles.
3. Heterozygosity is maximum when allele frequencies are equal.

According to Hardy Weinberg equation:

The Hardy Weinberg equation refers to the calculation of the genetic variation of a population at an equilibrium state.

p²+2pq+q²=1

where,

p = frequency of the "A" allele

q is the frequency of the "a" allele

p² = frequency of AA,

q²⁼ frequency of aa,

2pq = frequency of the heterozygous genotype Aa.

p and q can be calculated using the following equation:

p²+2pq+q²=1

2pq represents the frequency of the heterozygous genotype (Aa).