4. (Genetic Variation) Polymorphism and heterozygosity are measures of genetic v

Question

4. (Genetic Variation) Polymorphism and heterozygosity are measures of genetic variation that can be used to monitor the health of endangered populations. Individuals in an endangered population of sage grouse were genotyped at 5 loci.

a. Calculate polymorphism and heterozygosity for this population.

b.For healthy populations of sage grouse living in other parts of the world, typical values are P = .45, and H = .12. Give an explanation for why polymorphism and heterozygosity differ in this endangered population.

Please help a desperate student before an exam!! Need answers to both A and B, and would be amazing if you can show work so I can understand. PLEASEEE AND THANK YOU!

Locus AA Aa aa Total 1 100 0 0 100 2 100 0 0 100 3 52 9 39 100 4 13 2 85 100 5 100 0 0 100

Explanation / Answer

a) Polymorphism refers to the number of loci that contain heterozygous alleles out of total number of loci. Here, 2 out of 5 loci contain heterozygous characters (loci numbers 3 and 4) so, the polymorphysm is (2/5)= 0.40

Heterozygosity is the ratio of number of heterozygous loci in the population to the total number of genotypes of the individuals of the population, which is equal to [(9+2)/100]= 0.11

b) The reason why polymorphism and heterozygosity in the population are lower than a healthy population is because polymorphism and heterozygosity are a measure of genetic variation in a population. The fact that the population is endangered shows that the number of individuals in the population that remain are lesser and also the possibility of finding genetic variety also decreases, due to increased inbreeding.

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