dominant allele
- noun
- Specialized
:
alelo dominante
- In pea plants, the purple flower color is a trait expressed by the dominant allele regardless of the second allele's color.
Examples
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You then have two classes here that have one copy of the dominant allele and one copy of the recessive allele.
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Numerous corn cultivars are now registered that have inherited, as a dominant allele, a gene creating one of a myriad of Cry proteins.
Blog text (14) -
We observed a similar replacement of dominant alleles for ptxA.
Academic text (2012) -
If an organism carries the dominant allele, that trait will be visible in its physical appearance.
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The presence of a dominant allele in a genetic cross ensures that the associated trait will be expressed in the offspring.
Synonyms
A gene that shows its trait when only one copy is present
Antonyms
How Dominant
- Specialized
1
6.8
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
7
6.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'dominant' (expressed regardless of partner) modifies 'allele' (a gene variant) to yield an allele whose trait is expressed in the phenotype even when paired with another allele. Although technical, the modifier+noun structure is transparent and common cross-linguistically, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Dominant allele comes from the idea of one version of a gene 'winning' over another. Imagine two painters working on one picture: if one paints more, you see their color, so the dominant allele is the version that shows its 'trait' even when paired with a different allele.