Use the following information to answer Question 23: A single gene locus with two alleles determines the colour of snapdragon flowers - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 23 - 2003 - Paper 1

To find the number of C^R alleles, we sum the contributions from both red (C^R C^R) and pink (C^R C^W) plants:

• Red plants (40) contribute: 40 \times 2 = 80 \text{ C^R alleles}
• Pink plants (40) contribute: 40 \times 1 = 40 \text{ C^R alleles}

Thus, the total number of C^R alleles is:

$80 + 40 = 120$

So, this statement is correct.

The total number of alleles in the population is 200 (100 plants with 2 alleles each). Since we have calculated 120 C^R alleles, the proportion is:

$\frac{120}{200} = 0.6$

This statement is incorrect.

In a population of 100 snapdragon plants, with each having 2 alleles, the total allele pool is:

$100 \times 2 = 200$

Therefore, this statement is incorrect.