Biology 1001A Chapter Notes - Chapter 18.2: Genotype Frequency, Population Genetics
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Populations are made up of individuals of the same species, each with its own genotype. In diploid organisms with pairs of homologous ch(cid:396)o(cid:373)oso(cid:373)es, a(cid:374) i(cid:374)dividual"s ge(cid:374)otype includes two alleles at each gene locus. The su(cid:373) of all alleles at all ge(cid:374)e loci i(cid:374) all i(cid:374)dividuals is called the populatio(cid:374)"s ge(cid:374)e pool. To describe the structure of a gene pool, scientists first identify the genotypes in a representative sample and calculate genotype frequencies, the percentages of individuals possessing each genotype. They can then calculate allele frequencies, the relative abundances of the different alleles. For a locus with two alleles, scientists use the symbol p to identify the frequency of one allele, and q to identify the frequency of the other allele. When designing experiments, scientists often use control treatments to evaluate the effect of a particular factor. In studies using observational rather than experimental data, there is no suitable control.
