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Biology vocabulary · Genetics and Heredity

Allele

Meaning in biology, with examples

/əˈliːl/nounCore term

In biology, allele means: One of the different versions of the same gene. For example, a gene for flower color may have one allele for purple flowers and another for white.

In Turkish: alel

How it is used

Most animals and plants carry two alleles of each gene, one from each parent. Alleles are written with letters: a capital for dominant (P), lowercase for recessive (p). Common phrases: dominant allele, recessive allele, allele frequency.

Example sentences

  1. A pea plant with one purple allele and one white allele has purple flowers.

  2. The frequency of this allele has increased in the population over 20 generations.

Common collocations

  • dominant allele
  • recessive allele
  • allele frequency
  • carry an allele
  • mutant allele
  • geneA section of DNA that carries the instructions for making a particular protein or functional RNA. Genes are the basic units of heredity passed from parents to offspring.
  • dominantDescribing an allele whose effect shows in the organism even when only one copy is present. It hides the effect of a recessive allele.
  • recessiveDescribing an allele whose effect shows only when an organism has two copies of it. With only one copy, its effect is hidden by a dominant allele.
  • genotypeThe genetic makeup of an organism, especially the pair of alleles it carries for a particular gene, such as PP, Pp or pp.
  • phenotypeThe observable characteristics of an organism, such as height, color or blood type, which result from its genotype together with the environment.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Genetics and Heredity

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