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Biology vocabulary · Genetics and Heredity

Genotype

Meaning in biology, with examples

/ˈdʒenəˌtaɪp/nounCommon term

In biology, genotype means: The genetic makeup of an organism, especially the pair of alleles it carries for a particular gene, such as PP, Pp or pp.

In Turkish: genotip

How it is used

Paired with phenotype: the genotype is what the genes say, the phenotype is what you can observe. A genotype can be homozygous (two identical alleles) or heterozygous (two different alleles). As a verb, to genotype means to test an organism's DNA.

Example sentences

  1. A cross between two Pp plants gives a 1:2:1 genotype ratio.

  2. All the mice were genotyped by PCR before the experiment.

Common collocations

  • genotype ratio
  • homozygous genotype
  • heterozygous genotype
  • genotype frequency
  • phenotypeThe observable characteristics of an organism, such as height, color or blood type, which result from its genotype together with the environment.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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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