Dominant and Recessive Traits in Plants, Animals, and Humans

的re are 23 pairs ofchromosomesin each human cell and hundreds of thousands of distinct genes on each chromosome.

An individual inherits two versions of each gene, known as alleles, from each parent.

An allele is a chromosomal pair of genes that controls a heritable trait.

Alleles can be categorized as dominant or recessive, where dominant refers to the visible trait, and recessive refers to the one that is not visible morphologically.

Dominant alleles are generally denoted by capital letters, whereas recessive alleles are denoted by lowercase letters.

Dominant and Recessive Traits
Dominant and Recessive Traits

A homozygous trait has either two capital letters or two lowercase letters.

Heterozygous traits are those that have alternating letters. The capital letter will always come first in heterozygous alleles.

For example:

If the dominant gene for brown eyes is“B”和隐性基因“b”for blue eyes, then the alleles for the dominant trait can be either“BB”or“Bb”while“bb”is for a recessive trait.

A person will exhibit the dominant trait if they have a heterozygous set of alleles, i.e., BB or Bb.

In the case of a recessive trait, the alleles of the trait-causing gene are the same, and both recessive alleles must be present to express the trait (bb).

Having the same two copies of an allele is a homozygous condition.

When only one copy is present, a recessive allele does not result in any trait.

On the other hand, a dominant trait can also be expressed when one of the two alleles is present.

Many genes interact in the production of one trait, such as hair color, eye color, size, shape, and so forth, and one gene (in conjunction with others) often influences many traits.

Dominant and Recessive Traits in Plants

Name of Plant Dominant Trait 隐性Trait
Nettle Serrated leaves Smooth margined leaves
Sunflower Branched habit Unbranched habit
Cotton Colored lint White lint
Maize Round starchy kernel Wrinkled sugary kernel
Snapdragon Red flower Non-red flower
Barley Beardlessness Beardness
Wheat Susceptibility to rust Immunity to rust
Tomato Two-celled fruits Many-celled fruit

Dominant and Recessive Traits in Animals

Name of Animal Body character Dominant Trait 隐性Trait
Cat Skin color Tabby 黑色的or Blue
Cat Length of hair Short hair Long Hair
Dog Skin color Grey 黑色的
Dog Tail Stumpy Normal
Cattle Face Color White Colored
Cattle Horn Poled or Hornless Horned
Horse Skin color 黑色的 Red
Horse Movement Trotting Pacing
Sheep Hair/Wool/Fleece White 黑色的
Swine Skin color 黑色的 Red
Swine Hoof Uncleft Normal
Salamander Body color Dark light
Drosophila Eye color Red White
Drosophila Wings Flat and yellow Curled and White
Drosophila Body color Grey 黑色的
Land snail Shape of shell Unbanded shell Banded shell

Dominant and Recessive Traits in Humans

Traits Dominant 隐性
Baldness (In male) Presence Absence
Body Hair Abundant Little
Bend Pinkie Finger Able to bend Not able to bend
Cleft in Chin Presence Absence
Crossing of Thumbs Left thumb over right thumb Right thumb over left thumb
Dimples Presence Absence
Earlobes Free earlobes Attached earlobes
Freckles Presence Absence
Iris Brown Blue
Hairline Widow’s peak Straight
Hair Color Dark Light
Handedness Right handedness Left handedness
Hitchhiker’s Thumbs Absence Presence
Lips width Broad lips Thin lips
Mongolian Eye Fold Presence Absence
Nose Shape Roman nose (bump) Straight
Nose Width Broad nose Narrow nose
Rh factor in Blood Rh factor positive (+) Rh factor negative (-)
Toe Length Second toe longer than first toe First toe longer than second toe
Tongue Rolling Ability to roll tongue Inability to roll tongue
Webbed Fingers Presence Absence

References

  1. Altenburg大肠(1965)。的Relation of Genes to Traits. InGenetics(Revised Edition). Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., pp. 16
  2. Biologywise. (2022). Dominant and Recessive Traits in Humans.
  3. Accessed from: https://biologywise.com/dominant-recessive-traits-in-humans. Accessed on: 13.09.2022
  4. Classroom Partners. (2022). Punnett Square.
  5. Accessed from: https://pressbooks.umn.edu/classroompartners/chapter/punnett-squares/. Accessed on: 13.09.2022
  6. National Human Genome Research Institute (NIH). (2022). Recessive Traits and Alleles. Accessed from:https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Recessive-Traits-Alleles. Accesed on: 13.09.2022.
  7. Verma P.S. and Agarwal V.K. (2005). Mendel and His work. InCell Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Evolution and Ecology.Multi-color Edition. S. Chand & Company Ltd. Ram Nagar, New Delhi, pg 29-30

About Author

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Dibyak Kapali

Dibyak Kapali did his Bachelor's degree in Microbiology from St. Xavier's College, Kathmandu, Nepal. He is inquisitive about Medical Microbiology and Genetics.

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