Application of the Hardy-Weinberg model to a mixed population of Bar and wild-type Drosophila

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2005, Volume 26

Abstract

Unlike most population genetics labs, which involve simulations with beans or beads, this lab provides an opportunity to study a population of living organisms. Using Bar and wild-type Drosophila, students compare allele and genotype frequencies to Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Because the Bar mutation in Drosophila is sex-linked and incompletely dominant, students can determine the exact genotype of a fly from its phenotype. These data are evaluated to determine which (if any) of the five Hardy-Weinberg assumptions have been violated. This real-data approach allows students to appreciate the value of this null model and helps the instructor to discover and correct students' misunderstandings of the model.

Keywords:  population genetics, Drosophila, evolution, Hardy-Weinburg genetic equilibrium, Mendelian inheritance, behavioral genetics

Bowling Green State University, Ohio (2004)