Question

in wisconsin, a very large population of lake trout, in which individuals mate at random, experiences no migration, mutations, nor selective pressure for a number of years. which of these is most likely to occur in the population?
the frequency of dominant alleles will slowly increase.
the gene pool of the population will remain relatively constant.
the genetic variability of the population will slowly decrease.
the frequency of dominant and recessive alleles will equalize.

Explanation:

This problem relates to the Hardy - Weinberg principle in biology (a subfield of Natural Science). The Hardy - Weinberg principle states that in a large population with random mating, no migration, no mutations, and no natural selection (selective pressure), the allele frequencies and the gene pool remain relatively constant over generations.

• For the first option: There is no selective pressure to favor dominant alleles, so their frequency won't increase.
• For the second option: Given the conditions (large population, random mating, no migration, mutations, or selective pressure), the gene pool should remain relatively constant as per the Hardy - Weinberg principle.
• For the third option: Without factors like genetic drift (which is less likely in a very large population) or selection, genetic variability won't decrease.
• For the fourth option: There's no mechanism to make dominant and recessive allele frequencies equalize; they will stay at their initial frequencies (or change only due to random events, which are minimized in a large population).

Answer:

The gene pool of the population will remain relatively constant.