inbreeding depression

American  

[in-bree-ding-di-presh-uhn] / ˈɪnˌbri dɪŋ dɪˌprɛʃ ən /

noun

1. Biology. the tendency of a population to become progressively less fit as a result of inbreeding.

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inbreeding depression Scientific  

1. The loss of vigor and general health that sometimes characterizes organisms that are the product of inbreeding.

2. Compare hybrid vigor

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Example Sentences

But these are likely underestimates of the effects of inbreeding because researchers didn’t collect data from the orcas’ earliest life stages, when inbreeding depression is often the strongest.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 20, 2023

Loss of wild species would result in inbreeding depression, as crop varieties must be bred with wild species to remain viable.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

However, the bottleneck effect occurs when inbreeding depression kills off part of a population, whereas the founder effect relies on nonrandom mating.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

High heterozygosity and inbreeding depression are inherent to potato, a species that predominantly outcrosses and propagates by means of vegetative organs.

From Nature • Jul. 13, 2011

In contrast to the single modality of DM, RH exhibits clear bi-modality caused by heterozygosity. c, Genomic distribution of premature stop, frameshift and presence/absence variation mutations contributing to inbreeding depression.

From Nature • Jul. 13, 2011