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Allele frequency, or gene frequency, is the relative frequency of an allele (variant of a gene) at a particular locus in a population, expressed as a fraction or percentage. [1] Specifically, it is the fraction of all chromosomes in the population that carry that allele over the total population or sample size.
The allele frequency spectrum can be written as the vector = (,,,,), where is the number of observed sites with derived allele frequency .In this example, the observed allele frequency spectrum is (,,,,), due to four instances of a single observed derived allele at a particular SNP loci, two instances of two derived alleles, and so on.
if the allele A frequency is denoted by the symbol p and the allele a frequency denoted by q, then p+q=1. For example, if p=0.7, then q must be 0.3. In other words, if the allele frequency of A equals 70%, the remaining 30% of the alleles must be a, because together they equal 100%. [5]
Minor allele frequency (MAF) is the frequency at which the second most common allele occurs in a given population. They play a surprising role in heritability since MAF variants which occur only once, known as "singletons", drive an enormous amount of selection.
An allele [1] (or allelomorph) ... where p is the frequency of one allele and q is the frequency of the alternative allele, which necessarily sum to unity.
In the process of substitution, a previously non-existent allele arises by mutation and undergoes fixation by spreading through the population by random genetic drift or positive selection. Once the frequency of the allele is at 100%, i.e. being the only gene variant present in any member, it is said to be "fixed" in the population. [1]
Once an allele becomes fixed, genetic drift comes to a halt, and the allele frequency cannot change unless a new allele is introduced in the population via mutation or gene flow. Thus even while genetic drift is a random, directionless process, it acts to eliminate genetic variation over time.
Mutation will have a very subtle effect on allele frequencies through the introduction of new allele into a population. Mutation rates are of the order 10 −4 to 10 −8, and the change in allele frequency will be, at most, the same order. Recurrent mutation will maintain alleles in the population, even if there is strong selection against them.