Dominant

How it is used

Used in phrases like dominant allele, dominant trait and autosomal dominant disorder. Dominant alleles are written with capital letters. In ecology, a dominant species is the most common or influential species in a community.

Example sentences

1. Purple flower color is dominant over white in Mendel's peas.

2. Huntington's disease is caused by a dominant allele, so one copy is enough to cause it.

Common collocations

• dominant allele
• dominant trait
• dominant over
• autosomal dominant
• dominant species

Related terms

• 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.
• alleleOne 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.
• 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.
• traitA characteristic of an organism, such as eye color, flower shape or blood type. Some traits are inherited through genes, while others are shaped by the environment.

This word in other fields

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

• dominant · Genetics & Biotechnology

More terms: Genetics and Heredity

• DNA
• gene
• chromosome
• mutation
• meiosis
• inherit
• RNA
• nucleotide
• gene expression
• transcription
• translation
• genome