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Biology vocabulary · Genetics and Heredity

Recessive

Meaning in biology, with examples

/rɪˈsesɪv/adjectiveCore term

In biology, recessive means: Describing 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.

In Turkish: çekinik, resesif

How it is used

Recessive alleles are written in lowercase (p). A person with one recessive allele for a disease is called a carrier. Common phrases: recessive allele, recessive trait, autosomal recessive and X-linked recessive.

Example sentences

  1. Cystic fibrosis is a recessive condition, so a child must inherit the allele from both parents.

  2. White flowers appeared again in the second generation because the recessive allele had been hidden.

Common collocations

  • recessive allele
  • recessive trait
  • autosomal recessive
  • recessive condition
  • dominantDescribing an allele whose effect shows in the organism even when only one copy is present. It hides the effect of a recessive 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.
  • inheritTo receive genes, and the traits they control, from your parents. A trait that is inherited is passed from one generation to the next.

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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