heterozygote

American  

[het-er-uh-zahy-goht, -zig-oht] / ˌhɛt ər əˈzaɪ goʊt, -ˈzɪg oʊt /

noun

Genetics.

1. a person, animal, or other organism with a pair of differing alleles, one dominant and one recessive, of a particular gene.

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heterozygote British  

/ -ˈzɪɡəʊt, ˌhɛtərəʊˈzaɪɡəʊt /

noun

1. an animal or plant that is heterozygous; a hybrid Compare homozygote

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Other Word Forms

• heterozygosis noun

Etymology

Origin of heterozygote

First recorded in 1900–05; hetero- + zygote

Explanation

A heterozygote is a living thing that has two different versions of a given gene. If a cat inherits a gene for black fur from its mother and one for gray fur from its father, it is a heterozygote. The different forms of a gene are called alleles. Organisms inherit one allele for each gene from their biological parents. If those genes are different — e.g., one for gray fur, and one for black fur — the offspring is a heterozygote with respect to fur color. What color fur will a heterozygous cat have? It depends on which gene is dominant. Since the gene for black fur is dominant, the cat would be black. However, the cat could pass on the non-dominant, or recessive, gene to its offspring.

Example Sentences

Codominance describes the simultaneous expression of both of the alleles in the heterozygote.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Incomplete dominance describes situations in which the heterozygote exhibits a phenotype that is intermediate between the homozygous phenotypes.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Thus, there are four equally likely gametes that can be formed when the RrYy heterozygote is self-crossed, as follows: RY, rY, Ry, and ry.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

Mendel’s law of dominance states that in a heterozygote, one trait will conceal the presence of another trait for the same characteristic.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

Since the heterozygote in F1 was deeply pigmented, it is certain that a bird with only a small amount of pigment in its skin was a recessive resulting from incomplete segregation of the pigmented character.

From Hormones and Heredity by Cunningham, J. T.