Question

snapdragons have a pattern of heredity for flower - color called incomplete dominance. if the flower - color genotypes are known in a population of snapdragons, you can calculate the allele frequencies for the flower - color alleles r and r. what are the frequencies of the r and r alleles in this population? rr = red = 0.5625, rr = pink = 0.375, rr = white = 0.0625, allele frequency r =, r = 0.75, 0.50, 0.25, 0.125

Explanation:

Step1: Recall allele - frequency formula

The frequency of an allele can be calculated from genotype frequencies. If $p$ is the frequency of allele $R$ and $q$ is the frequency of allele $R'$, and the genotype frequencies are $RR = f_{RR}$, $RR'=f_{RR'}$, $R'R'=f_{R'R'}$, then $p = f_{RR}+\frac{1}{2}f_{RR'}$ and $q = f_{R'R'}+\frac{1}{2}f_{RR'}$.

Step2: Substitute given genotype frequencies

We are given $f_{RR}=0.5625$, $f_{RR'}=0.375$, $f_{R'R'}=0.0625$.
For the frequency of allele $R$:
\[p = 0.5625+\frac{1}{2}\times0.375=0.5625 + 0.1875=0.75\]
For the frequency of allele $R'$:
\[q = 0.0625+\frac{1}{2}\times0.375=0.0625+0.1875 = 0.25\]

Answer:

The frequency of allele $R$ is $0.75$ and the frequency of allele $R'$ is $0.25$.