You are studying the influence of migration on allele frequencies in two isolate

Question

You are studying the influence of migration on allele frequencies in two isolated populations of an endangered species (i.e., they haven’t exchanged migrants in a very long time). Let p1 and p2 be the allele frequencies of a neutral locus A1 on two islands with equal population sizes, where p1 = 0.18 and p2 = 0.40. In an attempt to increase genetic diversity in each population (and possibly slow genetic drift) you decide to move 20% of the individuals from each population (m) into the other. a) What will the new allele frequencies be in each population (p1 and p2) after this single migration event?

b) Calculate the heterozygosity in each population before and after the gene exchange.

c) Did the symmetric movement of individuals increase genetic diversity? Why or why not?

Explanation / Answer

The populations p1 and p2 face migration, the new allele frequencies would be calculated as follows:

p1' = (1-m) x p1

p1' = (1-0.20) x 0.18

p1' = 0.8 x 0.18

p1' = 0.144

similarly, for p2, it would be :

0.40 x 0.8

p2' = 0.32

B)- the heterozygosity in each population is : 2 x p1 x p2 = 2 x 0.18 x 0.40 (before the exchange)

= 0.144

after the exchange it would be - 2 x p1' x p2' = 2 x 0.144 x 0.32

= 0.092

C)- the symmetric movement of individuals did not increase the diversity, instead it decreased the diversity of P1 and P2 in both the cases.

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