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. 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 or other factors to cause the dominant alleles' frequency to increase, so this is incorrect.
• For the second option: Given the conditions (large population, random mating, no migration, no mutations, no selective pressure), the gene pool should remain relatively constant according to the Hardy - Weinberg principle, so this is correct.
• For the third option: Without factors like genetic drift (but the population is very large, so genetic drift is negligible) or selection, genetic variability should not decrease, so this is incorrect.
• For the fourth option: There is no reason for the dominant and recessive allele frequencies to equalize as there are no forces acting to change their relative frequencies towards equality, so this is incorrect.

Answer:

The gene pool of the population will remain relatively constant.