GRE Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology : Inheritance

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Help With Hardy Weinberg

Which of the following choices are likely to change the allele frequencies of the indicated populations?

I. A geographic barrier isolating a small subset of a larger population

II. The introduction of a predator that only preys upon the homozygous dominant members of the population

III. A population that displays completely random mating

Possible Answers:

I, II, and III

II only

I and II

III only

Correct answer:

I and II

Explanation:

Allele frequencies are the measure of an allele in relation to the total number of alleles in the given population. Introducing a predator that only preys upon homozygous dominant members will cause the number of dominant alleles to drop significantly and will, therefore, change allele frequencies. This would be an example of the bottleneck effect. Isolating a small subset of a population is going to change allele frequencies because that small subset is not likely to accurately represent the original population. This is an example of the founder effect.

Random mating is actually a factor that helps maintain allele frequencies, and is a requirement for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

Example Question #2 : Help With Hardy Weinberg

Which of the following is not a condition for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

Possible Answers:

Natural selection is operating on the population

Completely random mating

Negligible mutation frequencies

Large population size

Correct answer:

Natural selection is operating on the population

Explanation:

Of the choices, the only one that is not a Hardy-Weinberg assumption is that natural selection is occurring on the population. In fact, the exact opposite is a Hardy-Weinberg assumption. If natural selection is occurring on a population, over a large period of time, it is likely to have an effect on allele frequencies within the population.

All other answers are requirements in order for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium to be in effect: large population size, random mating, and negligible mutation frequencies.

Example Question #3 : Help With Hardy Weinberg

Which of the following conditions are not necessary for a population to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? 

Possible Answers:

Natural selection affects the alleles under consideration

No migration between populations occurs

There are no mutations

Mating must happen at random

Population size must be large

Correct answer:

Natural selection affects the alleles under consideration

Explanation:

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium states that the frequency of alleles at a locus remains constant from generation to generation. In order for this to be the case, natural selection cannot affect the alleles under consideration. All other answer choices describe conditions that do need to be met for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium to be displayed. Note that the conditions for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are not met in nature.

Example Question #2 : Help With Hardy Weinberg

An isolated population consists of 10 males and 10 females. Two individuals are carriers of the recessive blue eye allele. Assuming all Hardy-Weinberg conditions are met. What is the frequency of the blue eye phenotype in the population? 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Use the two Hardy-Weinberg equations:

Above,  is the frequency of the dominant allele, and  is the frequency of the recessive allele in the isolated population. 

Since there are 20 people in total on the island, that means that there are 40 alleles for eye color. 2 of the 40 are for the blue allele:

We are looking for the blue eye phenotype, which can only result from two recessive alleles.

Example Question #6 : Help With Hardy Weinberg

Within his rat population, a scientist is trying to generate twice as many recessive homozygotes as heterozygotes. What allelic frequency would accomplish this?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Use the Hardy-Weinberg equations:

The equation he will need to set up is the following:

Solve for  and substitute the first equation into the equation above.

Simplify.

Lastly, find .

Example Question #1 : Help With Hardy Weinberg

Assuming Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium conditions, what are the heterozygote (Bb) and homozygote recessive (bb) genotypes for a gene if the homozygote dominant (BB) genotype is 0.45?

Possible Answers:

Cannot be determined

Bb = 0.15

bb = 0.4

Bb = 0.4

bb = 0.15

Bb = 0.11

bb = 0.44

Bb = 0.44

bb = 0.11

Correct answer:

Bb = 0.44

bb = 0.11

Explanation:

The correct answer is Bb = 0.44 and bb = 0.11. 

Since we know BB = 0.45 and the equations for allele frequencies when Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium conditions are met: 

and 

We solve for B first:

Now we can solve for the homozygote recessive.

Lastly, solve for the heterozygote.

 

Example Question #4 : Help With Hardy Weinberg

Which of the following is not an assumption of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

Possible Answers:

No natural selection within a population 

No mutations within a population

No gene flow between populations

No genetic drift within a population

Non-random mating within a population

Correct answer:

Non-random mating within a population

Explanation:

Non-random mating is not an assumption of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, in fact, in order to make predictions about the next generation, random mating must be assumed. Additionally, no new mutations, no gene flow, no genetic drift, and no natural selection must also occur. If any of these phenomenon are present in a population, we can not estimate allele frequencies in subsequent generations due to chance, rather selective pressures may favor one allele over another allele. 

Example Question #11 : Inheritance

What are the phenotypic ratios for a given population for which the proportion of the dominant allele is 0.55 and that of the recessive allele is 0.45? 

Possible Answers:

Homozygous dominant: 0.25

Heterozygous: 0.50

Homozygous recessive: 0.25

Homozygous dominant: 0.30

Heterozygous: 0.20

Homozygous recessive: 0.50 

Homozygous dominant: 0.20

Heterozygous: 0.50

Homozygous recessive: 0.30 

Homozygous dominant: 0.50

Heterozygous: 0.30

Homozygous recessive: 0.20 

Homozygous dominant: 0.30

Heterozygous: 0.50

Homozygous recessive: 0.20 

Correct answer:

Homozygous dominant: 0.30

Heterozygous: 0.50

Homozygous recessive: 0.20 

Explanation:

To solve this problem, assume Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and use the associated equations to solve:

   

 is dominant allele and  is recessive allele 

To find the phenotype ratios:

 homozygous dominant 

 heterozygous 

 homozygous recessive 

Example Question #31 : Molecular Biology And Genetics

Which of the following is not a tenet of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

Possible Answers:

Randomized mating

No migration

Large population

No natural selection

Genetic drift

Correct answer:

Genetic drift

Explanation:

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium does not account for genetic drift. The Hardy-Weinberg law states that genetic frequencies will remain constant in a population from generation to generation in the absence of evolutionary influences. Therefore, there is no migration, natural selection, nonrandom mating, or small populations in a Hardy-Weinberg population.

Example Question #32 : Molecular Biology And Genetics

Which of the following are examples of codominance?

I. A person with blood type AB

II. A flower that displays a red and white spotted phenotype (both colors are attributed to the same gene; homozygosity for either color makes a flower that is completely red or white)

III. A flower that displays a pink phenotype (a homozygous dominant flower is red and a homozygous recessive flower is white)

IV. An organism whose heterozygous phenotype is identical to the homozygous dominant phenotype

Possible Answers:

I, II, and III

I and II

III and IV

IV only

Correct answer:

I and II

Explanation:

Codominance occurs when both phenotypes are displayed equally and independently in the phenotype (without blending). This is the case with blood type and the red and white spotted flower. A person with blood type AB expresses proteins that will recognize both type A and type B. The red and white spotted flower equally expresses the two color phenotypes.

The pink flower is an example of incomplete dominance (blended phenotype). Option IV describes a normal dominant-recessive hierarchy, where only one copy of the dominant allele is needed to display the dominant phenotype.

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