According to Hardy-Weinberg principle, allele and genotype frequencies in a population will remain constant from generation to generation in the absence of other evolutionary influences. It makes several assumptions which were given below.
i. Random Mating
ii. Sexual Reproduction
iii. Non-overlapping Generations
iv. Occurrence of Natural Selection
v. Small size of population
Identify two assumptions which do not meet for a population to reach Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium?
(a) iv and v
(b) ii and iv
(c) iii, iv and v
(d) i, ii and iii
(a) iv and v
Explanation:
Occurrence of natural selection and small size of population do not meet the criteria for a population to reach Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium. For Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium to be reached, natural selection should not be occurring. If populations are undergoing natural selection at the locus under consideration, allele frequencies will be continuously changing in a specific direction and Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium predicts that allele frequencies will stay constant. It assumes that population size is very large.