a certan population of mice, a single gene controls fur color. There are two possible alleles. B, which leads to a black fur and W. which leads to white fur individuals with the genotype BB will have a black fur individuals with the genotype WW will have white fur, and individuals with the genotype BW will have gray fur Scientists recorded the fur color of 1,000 mice from the population. They found that 200 mice have black fur, 400 have gray fur and 400 have white fur. Ten years later, the measurements are repeated Again, they recorded the fur color of 1,000 mice They found that 400 have black fur 400 have gray fur and 200 have white fur

Question

a certan population of mice, a single gene controls fur color. There are two possible alleles. B, which leads to a black fur and W. which leads to white fur individuals with the genotype BB will have a black fur individuals with the genotype WW will have white fur, and individuals with the genotype BW will have gray fur Scientists recorded the fur color of 1,000 mice from the population. They found that 200 mice have black fur, 400 have gray fur and 400 have white fur. Ten years later, the measurements are repeated Again, they recorded the fur color of 1,000 mice They found that 400 have black fur 400 have gray fur and 200 have white fur

Part A Show the Hardy Weinberg calculations for the beginning and ending populations Include the values for the equation as well as the p and q values. Show your work

Part B. Use the Hardy-Weinberg calculation to explain if this population is evolving or not. The propose a hypothesis about the environment of these mice that would lead to these observations

Answer 1

Part A:

Beginning population:
- Total number of mice = 1,000
- Black fur (BB) = 200
- Gray fur (BW) = 400
- White fur (WW) = 400

Calculations:
- p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1
- Let p = frequency of the B allele
- Let q = frequency of the W allele

p^2 = 200/1000 = 0.2
q^2 = 400/1000 = 0.4

p = √0.2 ≈ 0.447
q = √0.4 ≈ 0.632

Ending population:
- Total number of mice = 1,000
- Black fur = 400
- Gray fur = 400
- White fur = 200

Calculations:
p^2 = 400/1000 = 0.4
q^2 = 200/1000 = 0.2

p = √0.4 ≈ 0.632
q = √0.2 ≈ 0.447

Part B:
Based on the Hardy-Weinberg calculations, the frequency of the alleles in the beginning and ending populations remain the same (p = 0.447 and q = 0.632). This indicates that the population is not evolving, as the allele frequencies are not changing over time.

A hypothesis about the environment of these mice that would lead to these observations could be that the fur colors of the mice provide different levels of camouflage in their environment. Black fur might provide better camouflage in one type of habitat, while gray fur might be more advantageous in another type of habitat. This would maintain the different fur color alleles in the population without any significant shifts in allele frequencies.