The data below demonstrate the frequency of tasters and
nontasters of a certain compound in four isolated populations
that are in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The allele for
nontasters is recessive. In which population is the frequency
of the recessive allele highest?
PopulationABCDTasters1108,23521511,489Nontasters324,3285002,596Size of Population14212,56371514,085
Approach
The frequency of the recessive allele is given by q, where,
p2+2pq+homozygous recessiveq2=1
We can calculate this for each population. Since the allele for nontasters is recessive,
the frequency of nontasters corresponds to q2. Take the square root of this value to obtain q.
Pop.ABCDTasters1108,23521511,489Nontasters324,3285002,596Size of Population14212,56371514,085q232/1424,328/12,563500/7152,596/14,085q0.470.590.840.43