A Puzzler: Extending Hardy Weinberg to multiple alleles

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The ABO blood system is a well-known example of codominance. A certain population has the following frequencies for the blood types:

A

B

AB

O

0.40

0.27

0. 24

0.09

A. Estimate the frequency of the 'i' allele in the population.

 

 

 

B. Let p be the frequency of the IA allele in the population and q be the frequency of the IB allele in the population and r be the frequency of the 'i' allele. Estimate the frequency of the IB allele and the IB alleles. Clearly show all your work.

Hints:

Assume Hardy Weinberg can be extended to situations where you have multiple allele systems.

Assume random mating which means random combinations of gametes

 

Write a general algebraic expression for the frequency of blood type A in terms of a function of p and r. This might be useful to solve the problem along with a certain formula from algebra. J

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pgd revised 11/04/02