The term 'multiple alleles' refers to the presence of how many or more alleles in the population?

• A. one
• B. two
• C. four
• D. three

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the definition of 'multiple alleles': it refers to a situation where more than two alleles exist for a particular gene within a population.
2. Recall that most genes have two alleles (one from each parent), but some genes can have three or more alleles present in the population.
3. Recognize that the term 'multiple alleles' specifically means there are three or more alleles for a gene in the population, not just one or two.
4. Therefore, identify that the minimum number of alleles for a gene to be considered as having multiple alleles is three.
5. Conclude that the correct answer to the question is 'three' because multiple alleles means three or more alleles exist in the population.