The Hardy-Weinberg model analyzes what happens to the frequencies of two alleles at a single genetic locus when evolutionary forces are not acting on a population. What are the assumptions that apply to a population that conforms to Hardy-Weinberg?

Question

Fitzpatrick

Biology

9 March, 10:59

The Hardy-Weinberg model analyzes what happens to the frequencies of two alleles at a single genetic locus when evolutionary forces are not acting on a population. What are the assumptions that apply to a population that conforms to Hardy-Weinberg?

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Answers (1)

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Jacquelyn · Answer 1

The population must exhibit random mating, should have a large size, no evolutionary forces such as mutation or migration, and no natural selection.

Explanation:

According to the Hardy-Weinberg model, the allelic and genotype frequencies at an autosomal locus in a population will not change from one generation to the next if:

1) The population exhibits random mating and there is no sexual selection for interbreeding.

2) The population size is large enough to neutralize any impact of genetic drift on the allele frequencies.

3) No evolutionary forces such as mutation or migration must be operative on the population to change the allele frequencies.

4) The population should not experience natural selection for any genetic trait.