unit character

American  

noun

Genetics.

1. a characteristic, usually controlled by a single gene, that is transmitted as a unit in heredity.

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unit character British  

noun

1. genetics a character inherited as a single unit and dependent on a single gene

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Etymology

Origin of unit character

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Other decals boasted unit character through their fearsome, comical or fanciful logos: thunderbirds, doves, seahorses, wolves, warthogs, lions, tigers, bears, cobras, elephants, alligators, sharks.

From New York Times • Jul. 20, 2012

Why is there such variation in the results produced by a unit character?

From Applied Eugenics by Popenoe, Paul

To say, then, that any mental trait is a unit character, or that it is due to a single germinal difference, is to go beyond both the evidence and the probabilities.

From Applied Eugenics by Popenoe, Paul

The starch-producing unit character, which is active in the ordinary sorts of corns, is therefore latent in sugar-corn.

From Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation by Vries, Hugo de

In a few cases it is known that immunity or insusceptibility to specific forms of infection is a unit character which follows Mendelian laws in heredity.

From The Social Direction of Evolution An Outline of the Science of Eugenics by Kellicott, William E.