Complete Dominance: Understanding the Relationship between Dominant and Recessive Alleles in Genetics

a relationship in which one allele is completely dominant over another

In genetics, a relationship in which one allele is completely dominant over another is known as complete dominance

In genetics, a relationship in which one allele is completely dominant over another is known as complete dominance. Alleles are different variations of a gene that determine a specific trait. Each individual inherits two alleles, one from each parent.

In the case of complete dominance, one allele, often referred to as the dominant allele, masks the expression of the other allele, called the recessive allele. This means that the dominant allele’s characteristic or trait will be observed in the individual, regardless of whether the recessive allele is present or not.

The dominant allele is typically represented by an uppercase letter, while the recessive allele is represented by a lowercase letter. For example, when considering flower color in a plant, a dominant allele for red flower color is represented by ‘R’, while the recessive allele for white flower color is represented by ‘r’.

If an individual inherits two dominant alleles (RR), they will exhibit the dominant trait, which in this case would be red flowers. If an individual inherits one dominant and one recessive allele (Rr), they will still exhibit the dominant trait because the dominant allele is sufficient to mask the recessive allele. Therefore, they will also have red flowers.

On the other hand, for an individual to exhibit the recessive trait, they must inherit two recessive alleles (rr). In this case, their flowers will be white because there are no dominant alleles present to mask the recessive allele.

It is important to note that even though the recessive trait is not observed in individuals with one dominant allele, the recessive allele is still present in their genetic makeup. When individuals with one dominant allele (Rr) reproduce with each other, they have a 25% chance of producing offspring with recessive traits (rr) if they both carry the recessive allele.

Understanding complete dominance is crucial in various fields of biology and genetics, such as understanding the inheritance patterns of genetic disorders and predicting traits in breeding programs.

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