Chapter 6 Summary

The topics covered in this chapter can be summarized as follows:

• Symbols are used to denote the alleles, or genotype, of a locus.
• Phenotype depends on the alleles that are present, their dominance relationships, and sometimes also interactions with the environment and other factors.
• A somatic mutation affects the individual but not the progeny, whereas a germline mutation affects the progeny in the next generation but not the individual in which they occur.
• In a diploid organism, alleles can be homozygous, heterozygous, or hemizygous.
• Allelic interactions at a locus can be described as dominant vs. recessive, incomplete dominance, or co-dominance.
• Muller’s morphs classify all types of mutations including: amorph, hypomorph, hypermorph, neomorph, and antimorph.