442,862 views
21 votes
21 votes
why do we use the heterozygous phenotype when determining whether a gene exhibits complete dominance, codominance, and incomplete dominance?

User Train Heartnet
by
2.9k points

1 Answer

14 votes
14 votes

Answer:

Dominance affects the phenotype derived from an organism's genes, but it does not affect the way these genes are inherited. Complete dominance occurs when the heterozygote phenotype is indistinguishable from that of the homozygous parent. However, sometimes the heterozygote displays a phenotype that is an intermediate between the phenotypes of both homozygote parents (one of which is homozygous dominant, and the other of which is homozygous recessive). This intermediate phenotype is a demonstration of partial or incomplete dominance. When partial dominance occurs, a range of phenotypes is usually observed among the offspring. Although the offspring may show a variety of phenotypes, each one will lie along a continuum bracketed by the homozygous parental phenotypes.

Step-by-step explanation:

User Paul Lassiter
by
3.0k points