A New Kind of Tulip: Purple or Pink Flowers Genetics

What can be inferred from the genetic data of 1000 tulips with purple and pink flowers?

The genetic data of 1000 tulips with purple and pink flowers provides insights into the frequency of alleles in the field population and the proportion of different genotypes among purple flowering plants.

Genetic Analysis of Tulips with Purple and Pink Flowers

A new variety of tulips has been discovered in a large cultivated field, producing only purple or pink flowers. The color of these flowers is controlled by a single-gene locus, where the purple allele (C) is dominant to the pink allele (c).

Determination of Allelic Frequencies

In the sample of 1000 tulips, there are 847 purple flowers and 153 pink flowers. From this data, we can calculate the frequency of the purple (C) and pink (c) alleles in the field population.

a) Frequency of Purple and Pink Alleles:

The frequency of the dominant purple allele (C) is calculated as 0.61, and the frequency of the recessive pink allele (c) is determined to be 0.39.

Estimation of Genotype Proportions

Based on the genetic data, we can estimate the proportion of different genotypes among the purple flowering plants in the field.

b) Proportion of Purple Flowering Plants Genotypes:

The proportion of all purple flowering plants that are heterozygotes is 47.58%, estimated to be 475 individuals. Additionally, the proportion of all purple flowering plants that are homozygotes is 37.2%, totaling 372 individuals.

These genetic findings illustrate the distribution of alleles and genotypes in the population of tulips with purple and pink flowers, shedding light on the inheritance patterns of flower color in this new variety.

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