key terms in genetics

Question 1

what is the phenotype?

Answer 1

the observable characteristics of an organism

Question 2

what is the genotype?

Answer 2

the combination of alleles that control each characteristic

Question 3

alleles can either be?

Answer 3

dominant or recessive

Question 4

how does the characteristic from a dominant allele show up in a phenotype?

Answer 4

the dominant allele only needs to be inherited from one parent

Question 5

how does the characteristic from a recessive allele show up in a phenotype?

Answer 5

the recessive allele needs to be inherited from both parents

Question 6

when is the individual homozygous?

Answer 6

if the two alleles of a gene is the same

Question 7

what is homozygous dominant?

Answer 7

the individual has two copies of the dominant allele

Question 8

what is homozygous recessive?

Answer 8

the individual has two copies of the recessive allele

Question 9

when is the individual heterozygous?

Answer 9

when it has two different alleles

Question 10

what happens if two individuals who are both identically homozygous for a particular characteristic breed together?

Answer 10

they will produce offspring with exactly the same genotype and phenotype as the parents- always produce offspring with the same characteristics

Question 11

what is this process known as?

Answer 11

pure breeding

Question 12

why are heterozygous individuals not pure breeding?

Answer 12

a heterozygous individual can pass on different alleles for the same characteristic each time it is bred with any other individual- therefore can produce offspring with a different genotype and phenotype to the parents