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This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 15 February 2025. Science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms This article is about the general scientific term. For the scientific journal, see Genetics (journal). For a more accessible and less technical introduction to this topic, see Introduction to genetics. For the Meghan Trainor ...
A gene can acquire mutations in its sequence, leading to different variants, known as alleles, in the population. These alleles encode slightly different versions of a gene, which may cause different phenotypical traits. [4] Genes evolve due to natural selection or survival of the fittest and genetic drift of the alleles.
As an example, one allele for the gene for hair color could instruct the body to produce much pigment, producing black hair, while a different allele of the same gene might give garbled instructions that fail to produce any pigment, giving white hair. Mutations are random changes in genes and can create new alleles. Mutations can also produce ...
Genetic linkage is the tendency of DNA sequences that are close together on a chromosome to be inherited together during the meiosis phase of sexual reproduction.Two genetic markers that are physically near to each other are unlikely to be separated onto different chromatids during chromosomal crossover, and are therefore said to be more linked than markers that are far apart.
Allelic gene conversion occurs during meiosis when homologous recombination between heterozygotic sites results in a mismatch in base pairing. This mismatch is then recognized and corrected by the cellular machinery causing one of the alleles to be converted to the other. This can cause non-Mendelian segregation of alleles in germ cells. [3]
The majority of polymorphisms are silent, meaning they do not alter the function or expression of a gene. [3] Some polymorphisms are visible. For example, in dogs the E locus can have any of five different alleles, known as E, E m, E g, E h, and e. [4] Varying combinations of these alleles contribute to the pigmentation and patterns seen in dog ...
An entire gene family may also be lost, or gained through de novo gene birth, by such extensive divergence such that a gene is considered part of a new family, or by horizontal gene transfer. When the number of genes per genome remains relatively constant, this implies that genes are gained and lost at relatively same rates.
A haplotype (haploid genotype) is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent. [1] [2] Many organisms contain genetic material which is inherited from two parents. Normally these organisms have their DNA organized in two sets of pairwise similar chromosomes. The offspring gets one chromosome in each pair ...