In the last 100 years, there have been several reported sightings in Southeast C

Question

In the last 100 years, there have been several reported sightings in Southeast China of Maltese tigers (also known as blue tigers), which have blue-grey fur. There is decent biochemical evidence to suggest such a tiger could exist, even if it is very, very rare. a) Assume the maltese coat color is a recessive trait controlled by a single gene, and that the maltese allele has a frequency of 0.0012. What would be the expected frequency of the maltese genotype, and of the heterozygous carrier genotype? (2pts) b) It is estimated today that the wild population of tigers in Southeast China consists of about 30-40 individuals. Why might it still be possible that the maltese allele exists in this population?

Explanation / Answer

Frequency of maltese allele (recessive - q) = 0.0012

Expected frequency of maltese genotype = q2 = (0.0012)2 = 0.00000144

Frequency of dominant gene (p) = 1 - 0.0012 = 0.9988

Frequency of heterozygous carriers (pq) = 0.00119

Since, the maltese coat color expressing gene is not a lethal gene, it can still be expressed in wild type tigers, which can be heterozygous carriers of the gene but is masked by dominnat gene, since it is a recessive gene.

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