A student simulates the founder effect using colored beads to represent alleles in a population. The source population contains 50% red, 30% blue, 20% yellow beads (n = 1000). The student randomly draws samples of 10 beads (founders) and starts new populations from each. Allele frequencies in 50 founder populations are graphed.
What outcome best illustrates the founder effect?
- A
All founder populations have identical allele frequencies
- B
The yellow allele is enriched in all founders
- C
All founders fix the most common allele
- Dcheck_circle
Founder populations show wide variation in allele frequencies, sometimes lacking the rare yellow allele entirely
Explanation
Small founder samples are subject to sampling error. Allele frequencies vary widely between founders, and rare alleles (yellow, 20%) are sometimes lost. This sampling-driven divergence from the source is the founder effect.