Question

Define the following terms:
(a) Homozygous, (b) Heterozygous, (c) Genotype, (d) Phenotype, (e) Dominant, (f) Recessive, (g) Allele, (h) Back cross, (i) Multiple alleles

Answer 1

Homozygous:- it is a word that refers to a particular gene that has identical alleles on both homologous chromosomes.

heterozygous:- A diploid organism is said to be heterozygous at a gene when its cells contain two different alleles of a gene.

Genotype:- it can be defined as the genetic constitution of an organism

Phenotype:- it is the observable traits of an organism, it can also be defined as the physical features of an organism.

Dominant; a gene is said to be dominant when it masks the effect of the other gene.

Recessive:- agene whose effect is masked by the dominant gene is called a recessive gene.

Allele:- an allele can be defined as a variant form of a given gene.

Back cross:- it is crossing of a hybrid with one of its parents in order to achieve offspring with genetic identity closer to that of the parent.

Multiple alleles:- three or more alternative forms of a gene that can occupy the same locus.