Genetics: Calculating Allele Frequency in a Field Population

What is the frequency of the purple and pink alleles in this field population?

A random sample of 1000 tulips from a large cultivated field yields 847 purple flowers and 153 pink flowers.

Answer:

The frequency of the purple allele (c) and the pink allele (c) in this field population can be determined by calculating their respective proportions based on the number of purple and pink flowers observed in the sample. Out of the 1000 tulips sampled, there were 847 purple flowers and 153 pink flowers.

Since the purple allele (c) is dominant to the pink allele (c), we can assume that all the purple flowers in the sample possess at least one copy of the purple allele (Cc or CC). Therefore, the observed frequency of the purple allele (c) can be calculated as the proportion of purple flowers in the sample:

Frequency of purple allele (c) = Number of purple flowers / Total number of flowers = 847 / 1000 = 0.847 or 84.7%

To determine the frequency of the pink allele (c), we need to subtract the frequency of the purple allele from 1 (as there are only two alleles, purple and pink):

Frequency of pink allele (c) = 1 - Frequency of purple allele (c) = 1 - 0.847 = 0.153 or 15.3%

Therefore, in this field population, the frequency of the purple allele (c) is approximately 84.7%, while the frequency of the pink allele (c) is approximately 15.3%.