Question

Suppose we know p and q for a given 2-allele population. Which term in the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium provides the frequency of heterozygotes in that population?

Answer 1

Hardy-Weinberg states that the amount of genetic variation in a population will remain constant from one generation to the next in the absence of disturbing factors.

The Hardy-Weinberg equation for the given 2-allelle population p ans q is expressed as:

p² + 2pq + q² = 1

where p is the frequency of the "p" allele and q is the frequency of the "q" allele in the population. In the equation, p² represents the frequency of the homozygous genotype pp, q² represents the frequency of the homozygous genotype qq, and 2pq represents the frequency of the heterozygous genotype pq.

In addition, the sum of the allele frequencies for all the alleles at the locus must be 1, so p + q = 1. If the p and q allele frequencies are known, then the frequencies of the three genotypes may be calculated using the Hardy-Weinberg equation.

In population genetics studies, the Hardy-Weinberg equation can be used to measure whether the observed genotype frequencies in a population differ from the frequencies predicted by the equation.