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9.2: Understanding Genotype and Phenotype

  • Page ID
    133679
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    The unique pair of alleles an individual has for a gene is called a genotype. Genotypes can be described as homozygous (same alleles) or heterozygous (different alleles). When a genotype is homozygous, we can then further describe it based on whether the alleles are both dominant or both recessive. The genotype then leads to the physical result -- the phenotype. The phenotype is described using qualitative terms -- brown hair, blue eyes, tall, freckles, etc

    Sometimes more than one genotype will lead to the same phenotype. This is the case when a dominant allele is present. Dominant alleles “mask” recessive alleles so the dominant phenotype is seen for both homozygous dominant and heterozygous genotypes. Recessive phenotypes only show when both alleles are recessive.

    Let’s get some practice understanding the relationship between genotype and phenotype.

    Identify the genotype using the terms homozygous dominant, heterozygous, or homozygous recessive.

    1. Tt _____________________
    2. AA ____________________
    3. pp ____________________
    4. qq ____________________
    5. Gg ____________________
    6. RR ____________________

    Identify the phenotype for each genotype using the given information.

    Freckles are dominant to no freckles.

    FF _________________________

    Ff __________________________

    ff __________________________

    Brown hair is dominant to blond hair.

    BB __________________________

    Bb __________________________

    bb __________________________

    Tall plants are dominant to short plants.

    TT __________________________

    Tt ___________________________

    tt ____________________________

    Round peas are dominant to wrinkled peas.

    RR ___________________________

    Rr ____________________________

    rr __________________________


    This page titled 9.2: Understanding Genotype and Phenotype is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Karen Marks and Valeria Hochman Adler.

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