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Allele frequency, also known as gene frequency, is a measure of the relative frequency of an allele (variant of a gene) within a population's gene pool. It is expressed as a proportion or percentage, indicating how common an allele is among the population's members. Allele frequency is a fundamental concept in population genetics and evolutionary biology, as it helps scientists understand genetic diversity, track how populations evolve over time, and identify the forces of evolution (such as natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, and gene flow) at work. To calculate the allele frequency of a specific allele, you divide the number of occurrences of that allele by the total number of alleles for the same gene within the population. For example, if a population of 100 individuals has 160 alleles for a particular gene (since most genes have two alleles per individual) and 40 of those alleles are a specific variant (allele A), then the frequency of allele A is 40/160, or . Allele frequencies can change over time due to evolutionary pressures, leading to changes in the genetic structure of the population. Understanding these changes is crucial for studying the mechanisms of evolution, the genetic basis of diseases, and the conservation of genetic diversity within species. Problem: The coat color gene of a population of squirrels is defined by a dominant allele G, which encodes a gray coat, and a recessive allele g, which encodes a black coat. In a population, genetic typing reveals the genotypic distribution to be 50 GG, 30 Gg, and 20 gg. What is the allelic frequency of the G allele? A) B) C) D)
