Derivation of Hardy-Weinberg Ratios for dioecious organisms 
Let individuals with genotypes AA, AB, & BB be distributed as p2 : 2pq : q2

Let ratios in females & males be equal.

I. Proportion of total offspring contributed by each type of mating

p2 'AA' 2pq 'AB' q2 'BB'
p2 'AA' p4 2p3 p2q2
2pq 'AB' 2p3q 4p2q2 2pq3
q2 'BB' p2q2 2pq3 q4

II. Expected genotype ratios from each type of mating

'AA' 'AB' 'BB'
'AA' all AA 1/2 AA : 1/2 AB all AB
'AB' 1/2 AA : 1/2 AB 1/4 AA : 1/2 AB : 1/4 BB 1/2 AB : 1/2 BB
'BB' all AB 1/2 AB : 1/2 BB all BB

III. Expected proportions of genotypes produced by each type of mating:
     multiply proportions in (I) by expectations in (II)

p2 'AA' 2pq 'AB' q2 'BB'
p2 'AA' p4 AA p3q AA + p3q AB p2q2AB
2pq 'AB' p3q AA + p3q AB p2q2AA + 2p2q2 AB + p2q2 BB pq3 AB + pq3BB
q2 'BB' p2q2AB pq3 AB + pq3BB q4 BB



Then, summing over genotypes

f(AA) = p4 +p3q + p3q + p2q2 = (p2)(p2 + 2pq + q2) = p2

f(AB) = p3q + p2q2 + p3q + 2p2q2 +p2q2 + pq3 + pq3
          = 2p3q + 4p2q2 + 2pq = (2pq)(p2 + 2pq + q2) = 2pq

f(BB) = p2q2 +pq+ pq3 +q4 = (q2)(p2 + 2pq + q2) = q2
 

Conclusion: random matings among dioecious organisms produce the same genotype ratios as random union of gametes in monoecious organisms

H HOMEWORK: Repeat the derivation above with allele frequencies d & e for alleles R & r, respectively.


All text material © 2024 by Steven M. Carr