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 question 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 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: Since the conditions of the Hardy - Weinberg principle are met (large population, random mating, no migration, no mutations, no selective pressure), the gene pool (the collection of all alleles in the population) will remain relatively constant.
• For the third option: Without factors like genetic drift (which is more prominent in small populations) or selection, genetic variability won't decrease.
• For the fourth option: There is no mechanism to make the frequencies of dominant and recessive alleles equalize; they will remain at their initial frequencies as long as the Hardy - Weinberg conditions hold.

Answer:

The gene pool of the population will remain relatively constant.