Mendel discovered that whether his peas were yellow or green is determined by a single gene in which yellow (Y) is dominant over green (y). Assuming low selective pressure, what does the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium frequency term 2pq represent in the peas?

Heterozygous, Yy

Explanation:

According to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the allele frequencies remain constant in a population in absence of an evolutionary force like genetic drift or natural selection. Since here the population is under low selective pressure, it can be considered almost in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. According to it,

p + q = 1

p² + 2pq + q² = 1 where,

p = frequency of dominant allele = f(Y)

q = frequency of recessive allele = f(y)

p² = frequency of homozygous dominant genotype = f(YY)

2pq = frequency of heterozygous genotype = f(Yy)

q² = frequency of homozygous recessive genotype = f(yy)

Hence, the term 2pq represents the frequency of heterozygous Yy peas.

the darker peppered moth species were favored due to the fact that the industrial revolution had made all the nearby trees a darker color instead of white.