Meaning & use
genotype
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Meanings
nouncountablebiologytechnical
The particular genetic makeup of an individual living thing, especially the alleles it carries.
Grammar: Countable: 'a genotype', 'the genotypes of the parents', 'different genotypes'.
Patterns
- the genotype of an organism
- a genotype for a trait
- determine a genotype
The genotype of each pea plant determined whether its flowers were purple or white.
Two mice can look identical but have different genotypes.
Scientists tested the genotype of the seeds before planting them.
nouncountablebiologyspecialist
The combination of alleles at one or more specific genes, often written with letters such as AA or Aa.
Grammar: In genetics, a genotype is often written as a pair of letters, e.g. 'the genotype Aa'.
Patterns
- the genotype Aa
- a homozygous genotype
- a heterozygous genotype
An organism with the genotype Aa is heterozygous for that gene.
The students learned to predict offspring genotypes using a Punnett square.
Word forms
| plural | genotypes |
|---|
Common combinations
- the genotype of an organism
- The genotype of an organism is fixed at conception.
- determine the genotype
- A blood test can determine the genotype of a patient.
- a homozygous genotype
- A homozygous genotype means both alleles are the same.
- genotype and phenotype
- In biology class we compared genotype and phenotype.
Synonyms and how they differ
- genetic makeup
- This is a general everyday phrase for the same idea; 'genotype' is the technical term used in scientific writing.
- genetic constitution
- A formal phrase meaning much the same; it is less common and less precise than 'genotype' in genetics.
Opposites
Word family
- genotypic adjective
- Relating to a genotype, as in 'genotypic variation'.
- genotypically adverb
- In terms of genotype, as in 'genotypically identical'.
- genotyping noun
- The process of finding out an organism's genotype.
Commonly confused: genotype or phenotype? genotype or gene?
genotype vs phenotype
Phenotype is the set of observable traits, such as eye color or height; genotype is the underlying genetic information that helps produce those traits.
genotype vs gene
A gene is a section of DNA; a genotype is the combination of alleles a person or organism has at one or more genes.
Practice
An organism's observable traits, such as flower color, are its ______, while its genetic makeup is its genotype.
Choose one answer.
Phenotype means the visible or measurable characteristics. Genotype is the genetic information, genome is all the DNA, and a gene is only one unit of heredity.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “genotype”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.