Question

Give two distinctly different reasons why the populations' genetic make-up changed from generation to generation which were definitely not exhibiting Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

Answer 1

Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium states that sum of both allelic frequency and genotypic frequency remains constant and this equilibrium is mainly based on five assumptions, namely:

• There should be random mating and no choice mating
• There should be no immigration and emigration
• There should be no mutation
• There should be no natural selection force applicable on population
• Population size should be large enough and non evolving

Two reasons why the populations' genetic make-up changed from generation to generation which were definitely not exhibiting Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are:

• Natural selection: It is a selection pressure which operates in a population and allow the best fitted genotype to survive in changing environmental conditions and eliminate the other genotype which are not fit. Causes of natural selection includes: genetic drift, mutation (changes allelic frequency) and sexual selection.
• Migration: Rate of migration alters the genetic makeup of the population. Immigration means moving in a particular region and emigration means leaving a particular region. There are many reasons which leads to migration: depletion of resources, alteration in climatic conditions and natural disasters.