Apply your answers from the previous questions to analyze each answer option for the original question prompt provided below. Remember that heritability = 0.2 is the cutoff above which a population can evolve via natural selection for a characteristic.
Dr. Sulman is assessing the link between a bacterial characteristic and antibiotic resistance. Bacteria vary for the total number of Receptor A present on their cell membranes. Many antibiotics bind to Receptor A to enter a bacterium. Thus, Dr. Sulman hypothesizes that low numbers of Receptor A confer antibiotic resistance as it presents fewer binding opportunities for antibiotic compounds. Dr. Sulman harvests a population of a bacterial species from a patient prior to antibiotic treatment. In advance of antibiotics, the mean number of Receptor A/bacterium for the population is 287. Following antibiotic treatment of this population, the mean number of Receptor A/bacterium of the survivors is 126. Dr. Sulman allows these survivors to reproduce in absence of antibiotics and determines the mean number of Receptor A/bacterium for their offspring is 223. Given this information, which of the following is accurate regarding Vo, Vg, and the evolution of this bacterial population?"
a)Ve and Vg are equal and this population has evolved by natural selection for the mean number of Receptor A/bacterium
b)Ve is greater than Vg and this population has not evolved by natural selection for the mean number of Receptor A/bacterium
c)Ve is greater than Vg and this population has evolved by natural selection for the mean number of Receptor Abacterium
d)Vis greater than Ve and this population has evolved by natural selection for the mean number of Receptor Abacterium