Which of the following accurately describes the joint effects of mutation and se

Question

Which of the following accurately describes the joint effects of mutation and selection on the frequency of a deleterious recessive allele?

Eventually mutation overwhelms selection and fixes the allele

Eventually, the rate at which mutation introduces the deleterious allele into the population and the rate at which selection eliminates it balance each other out and the allele's frequency reaches a steady state

Selection overwhelms mutation and eliminates the allele from the population

Eventually mutations that generate the new allele occur at lower and lower frequency until they cease to occur and at that point, selection eliminates the allele from the population

Eventually mutation overwhelms selection and fixes the allele

Eventually, the rate at which mutation introduces the deleterious allele into the population and the rate at which selection eliminates it balance each other out and the allele's frequency reaches a steady state

Selection overwhelms mutation and eliminates the allele from the population

Eventually mutations that generate the new allele occur at lower and lower frequency until they cease to occur and at that point, selection eliminates the allele from the population

Explanation / Answer

Answer: Option C is correct.
Explanation: Mutations occur all the time in nature. However, the frequency of a mutant allele in a population is subjected to selection. If the mutation is beneficial, it gets positively selected leading to fixation of the allele. If the mutation is deleterious, it gets negatively selected leading to the elimination of the allele.

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