We will talk about this more in class but pigeons have a gen

We will talk about this more in class, but pigeons have a gene, EphB2, that controls head crest feather development. A recessive allele at this locus reverses the feathers on their head crests and basically makes them look like they have a huge cowlick. There are 100,000 pigeons in the population; 1,000 pigeons are heterozygous for the recessive trait; and 1,674 pigeons have reversed head-crest feathers. If we call the dominant allele A1 and the recessive allele A2, which of the following is closest to the frequency of the A2 allele?

Solution

Given that, A1A2 pigeons = 1000, A2A2 pigeons = 1674

Total A2 alleles = 1000 + 2(1674) = 4348

Total individuals = 100000; total alleles = 2(100000) = 200000

Therefore, allele frequency of A2 in the population = 4348/200000 = 0.02174^*

(^*The question appears to be a multiple choice type question; you may select the answer nearest to the value)