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Some alleles are dominant, meaning they ultimately determine the expression of a trait. Other alleles are recessive and are much less likely to be expressed. When a dominant allele is paired with a recessive allele, the dominant allele determines the characteristic.
The terms dominant and recessive describe the inheritance patterns of certain traits. That is, they describe how likely it is for a certain phenotype to pass from parent offspring. Sexually reproducing species, including people and other animals, have two copies of each gene.
If an allele is recessive, then the gene needs to have two copies (or be homozygous) to express the recessive phenotype. If an organism is a heterozygote, or has one copy of each allele type, then it will show the dominant phenotype.
Most human cells carry two copies of each chromosome, so usually have two versions of each gene. These different versions of a gene are called alleles. Alleles can either be dominant or recessive, which describes the way their associated traits are inherited.
Individuals inherit two versions of each gene, known as alleles, from each parent. In the case of a dominant trait, only one copy of the dominant allele is required to express the trait. The effect of the other allele (the recessive allele) is masked by the dominant allele.
Dominant and recessive genes are types of genes that determine specific traits in an individual. Dominant genes are expressed even if an individual has only one copy of the gene, while recessive genes are expressed only if an individual has two copies of the gene.
A dominant gene, or a dominant version of a gene, is a particular variant of a gene, which for a variety of reasons, expresses itself more strongly all by itself than any other version of the gene which the person is carrying, and, in this case, the recessive.
In fact, dominance and recessiveness are not actually allelic properties. Rather, they are effects that can only be measured in relation to the effects of other alleles at the same locus.
Mendel’s law of dominance states that in a heterozygote, one trait will conceal the presence of another trait for the same characteristic. Rather than both alleles contributing to a phenotype, the dominant allele will be expressed exclusively.
Recessive, as related to genetics, refers to the relationship between an observed trait and the two inherited versions of a gene related to that trait. Individuals inherit two versions of each gene, known as alleles, from each parent.