Understanding Heterozygous: The Role of Alleles and Inheritance in Traits

Heterozygous

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Heterozygous refers to an organism that possesses two different alleles (alternate forms of a gene) for a particular trait. Each individual inherits one allele from each parent, and if the two alleles are different, the individual is said to be heterozygous for that trait.

For example, in pea plants, the gene that determines flower color can have two alleles: one for purple flowers (P) and one for white flowers (p). If an individual plant has one P allele and one p allele (Pp), it is heterozygous for this trait. In this case, the dominant allele (P) determines the plant’s flower color, and the recessive allele (p) has no observable effect.

Heterozygous individuals can sometimes carry recessive alleles that could lead to genetic diseases or disorders, but they may not show symptoms of those diseases themselves. The presence of a dominant allele masks the effects of any recessive alleles that are inherited along with it. However, heterozygous individuals can pass the recessive allele on to their offspring.

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