For many years, there has been a large collection of pea plants with a mixture of yellow and green pea pod colours in a savannah. But, there has been a recent infestation of wild rabbits with a preference for eating plants with yellow pea pods. Assume that at the start of the infestation, the alleles in the pea plant population were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. What does it mean for the alleles in the pea plant population to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? What is expected to happen to the allele frequency of the g allele in the subsequent pea generations after the rabbits have been introduced? Explain your answer
Evolutionary Genetics
Evolution is known as continuous changes that occur to adjust organisms in their changing environment over many generations. Various theories have been proposed to illustrate the origin of life and organic evolution. The most accepted one is the theory of natural selection by Charles Darwin. According to his postulate, organisms undergo a struggle for existence due to overproduction. To survive in nature, they acquire variations. The inheritable variations are selected by nature, and it leads to the survival of the fittest.
Phenotype Frequency
The majority of populations have a certain degree of variation in their genetic pools. Scientists can predict the genetic variation happening over time by measuring the amount of genetic variation in a population and these predictions assist them in gaining important insights into the processes that allow organisms to adapt to the environment or to develop into new species over generations. This process is referred to as the process of evolution.
Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium
The frequencies of allele and genotype were maintained constant from one generation to another due to the absence of other evolutionary forces. It is otherwise called the Hardy Weinberg principle the field of population genetics.
For many years, there has been a large collection of pea plants with a mixture of yellow and green pea pod colours in a savannah. But, there has been a recent infestation of wild rabbits with a preference for eating plants with yellow pea pods. Assume that at the start of the infestation, the alleles in the pea plant population were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
What does it mean for the alleles in the pea plant population to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
What is expected to happen to the allele frequency of the g allele in the subsequent pea generations after the rabbits have been introduced? Explain your answer using terms from Darwinian evolution theory.
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