Question

Write two factors affecting Hardy-Weinberg principle.

Answer 1

It is the steady-state relation between relative frequencies of two or more alleles in an idealized population; all allele and genotype frequencies will remain stable through generations in a population breeding at random in the absence of evolutionary influences.

Complete answer:
- This principle says that allele frequencies in a population are stable and are constant from generation to generation. The gene pool, that is, the overall genes and their alleles in the population, remain stable. This is known as genetic equilibrium.

- Five factors are known to influence the equilibrium of Hardy-Weinberg. These include gene migration or gene flow, genetic drift, mutation, genetic recombination and natural selection. - If there is a transfer of a part of the population to another area and population, the gene distribution changes in the old population as well as in the new population.
- New genes or alleles are added to the new population and are removed from the old population. If this gene migration occurs several times, there will be a gene flow. If the same shift happens by accident, it is called genetic drift.
- The change in the abundance of the allele is often so different in the latest population sample that it becomes a different species. The initial drifting population becomes the founder and the effect is called the founder effect.

Note: The rate of occurrence of alleles of a gene or a locus may be observed in a given population. This frequency should remain fixed and even remain the same for generations to come. The Hardy-Weinberg theorem stated this by using algebraic equations.