monohybrid cross
- noun
- /ˌmɒnəˈhaɪbrɪd krɔs/
- Specialized
:
cruzamiento monohíbrido
- The scientist explained that a monohybrid cross involves only one gene with two alleles to observe inheritance patterns.
Examples
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By performing a monohybrid cross, researchers discovered that the trait for height was determined by a single pair of alleles.
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OK, so that's similar what to what you would expect from a monohybrid cross where red eyes is dominant.
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In a biology class, we learned how a monohybrid cross can help predict the traits of offspring using pea plants.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: 'monohybrid' (involving one gene/trait) modifies 'cross' (a breeding), so it denotes a genetic cross concerning a single trait. Although the vocabulary is technical, the meaning follows standard noun-noun composition and would be recoverable by a learner who knows the constituent words and morphemes (e.g. 'mono-' = one).
Etymology
The noun monohybrid cross comes from mono (meaning 'one') and hybrid (a cross between different parents). In Mendel's pea work he crossed plants that differed in only one trait, so the phrase means a 'cross' that looks at 'one trait'.
