Question

Can very rare alleles exist in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? (i.e. frequencies of 1 in 100,000 or less)? Explain briefly.

Answer 1

Answer

Yes very rare alleles can exist in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium because their law states that in a population, allele and genotype frequencies will remain constant from generation to generation in the absence of other evolutionary influences.

These influences include meiotic drive mutation, selection, mate choice,  gene flow, and . genetic drift, because of all these influences this equilibrium rarely applies in reality

When mating is random in a large population,their allele frequenct remain constant because they are in equilibrium.

Equation:

                        p² + 2pq + q² = 1

p=frequency of the "A" allele

q =frequency of the "a" allele in the population.