Gene Frequency - Research Article from World of Biology

This encyclopedia article consists of approximately 1 page of information about Gene Frequency.
Encyclopedia Article

Gene Frequency - Research Article from World of Biology

This encyclopedia article consists of approximately 1 page of information about Gene Frequency.
This section contains 180 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page)

Gene frequency is a measure of how common a particular allele is as a proportion of all possible alleles at a given locus (a physical location on a chromosome) within a population. This measure is also referred to as allelic frequency.

If a given allele exists in a population in two different forms "A" and "a", then the percentage of "A" taken as a measure of the overall occurrence of both "A" and "a" would be the gene frequency for "A" in that population. So, for example, if there are 30 individuals with a genotype "AA," 50 with "Aa," and 20 with "aa," then it can be seen that "A" is present a total of 110 times (30 + 30 + 50). This is from a total possible occurrence of 200 (30 + 30 + 50 + 50 + 20 + 20) alleles at the locus under study. The gene frequency in this case for "A" is 110 / 200 = 0.55 or 55%.

Gene frequency can only be quoted for a population; the population can, however, be of any number of individuals. Gene frequency can, in certain circumstances, only be an estimate due to the hidden, recessive alleles that occur in populations.

This section contains 180 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page)
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Gene Frequency from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.