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A polygene is a member of a group of non-epistatic genes that interact additively to influence a phenotypic trait, thus contributing to multiple-gene inheritance (polygenic inheritance, multigenic inheritance, quantitative inheritance [1]), a type of non-Mendelian inheritance, as opposed to single-gene inheritance, which is the core notion of Mendelian inheritance.
Complex traits are also known as polygenic traits and multigenic traits. [1] [2] The existence of complex traits, which are far more common than Mendelian traits, represented a significant challenge to the acceptance of Mendel's work. Modern understanding has 3 categories of complex traits: quantitative, meristic, and threshold.
Unlike monogenic traits, polygenic traits do not follow patterns of Mendelian inheritance (discrete categories). Instead, their phenotypes typically vary along a continuous gradient depicted by a bell curve. [8] An example of a polygenic trait is human skin color variation.
Many traits are produced by the interaction of several genes. Traits controlled by two or more genes are said to be polygenic traits. Polygenic means "many genes" are necessary for the organism to develop the trait. For example, at least three genes are involved in making the reddish-brown pigment in the eyes of fruit flies. Polygenic traits ...
In fact, the terms 'multifactorial' and 'polygenic' are used as synonyms and these terms are commonly used to describe the architecture of disease causing genetic component. [2] Multifactorial diseases are often found gathered in families yet, they do not show any distinct pattern of inheritance.
On a pedigree, polygenic diseases do tend to "run in families", but the inheritance does not fit simple patterns as with Mendelian diseases. This does not mean that the genes cannot eventually be located and studied. There is also a strong environmental component to many of them (e.g., blood pressure). Other such cases include: asthma
Polygenic adaptation describes a process in which a population adapts through small changes in allele frequencies at hundreds or thousands of loci. [ 1 ] Many traits in humans and other species are highly polygenic , i.e., affected by standing genetic variation at hundreds or thousands of loci.
Genetic architecture is the underlying genetic basis of a phenotypic trait and its variational properties. [1] Phenotypic variation for quantitative traits is, at the most basic level, the result of the segregation of alleles at quantitative trait loci (QTL). [2]