Question

At a locus with two alleles A1 and A2, the genotype A1A1 produces white flowers, A2A2 produces red flowers, and A1A2 produces pink flowers. For a population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of red flowers is 0.25. If the white-flowered plants are removed, and all pink and red flowered-plants in this population are randomly crossed amongst each other, the frequency of white flowered plants in the next generation will be \(\underline{\hspace{1cm}}\) (Round off to two decimal places.)

Hint:

To calculate the frequency of white-flowered plants in the next generation, use the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium formula for allele frequencies and apply the probability of obtaining each genotype.

Answer 1

Correct Answer: 0.1

Step 1: Determine allele frequencies.
The frequency of red flowers (A2A2) is given as 0.25, which is \( q^2 \), so: \[ q = \sqrt{0.25} = 0.5. \] Since \( p + q = 1 \), we find: \[ p = 1 - 0.5 = 0.5. \]

Step 2: Calculate the frequencies of genotypes.
The frequency of pink flowers (A1A2) is given by \( 2pq \), so: \[ 2pq = 2 \times 0.5 \times 0.5 = 0.5. \]

Step 3: Next generation after crossing pink and red plants.
In the next generation, pink (A1A2) and red (A2A2) plants will cross. The probability of producing a white flower (A1A1) from an A1A2 × A2A2 cross is: \[ P(\text{A1A1}) = 0.5 \times 0.5 = 0.25. \] Thus, the frequency of white-flowered plants in the next generation will be \( \boxed{0.25} \).