GENETIC DOMINANCE

Dominance Definition

Dominance in genetics is a relationship between alleles of one gene, in which one allele is
expressed over a second allele at the same locus. The first allele isdominant and the second
allele is recessive. For genes on an autosome (any chromosome other than a sex chromosome),
the alleles and their associated traits are autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive.
Dominance is a key concept in Mendelian inheritance and classical genetics. Often the
dominant allele codes for a functional protein whereas the recessive allele does not.

A classic example of dominance is the inheritance of seed shape (pea shape) in peas. Peas may
be round (associated with allele R) or wrinkled (associated with allele r). In this case, three
combinations of alleles (genotypes) are possible: RR, Rr, and rr. The RR individuals have round
peas and the rr individuals have wrinkled peas. In Rr individuals the R allele masks the presence
of the r allele, so these individuals also have round peas. Thus, allele R is dominant to allele r,
and allele r is recessive to allele R (this use of upper case for dominant alleles and lower case for
recessive alleles is a widely followed convention).

More generally, where a gene exists in two allelic versions (designated A and a), three
combinations of alleles (genotypes) are possible: AA, Aa, and aa. If AA and aaindividuals
(homozygotes) show different forms of some trait (phenotypes), and Aa individuals
(heterozygotes) show the same phenotype as AA individuals, then allele A is said
to dominate or be dominant to or show dominance to allele a, and a is said to be recessive to A.
Dominance is not inherent to an allele. It is a relationship between alleles; one allele can be
dominant over a second allele, recessive to a third allele, andcodominant to a fourth.
Dominance differs from epistasis, a relationship in which an allele of one gene affects the
expression of another allele at a different gene.

Complete dominance
In complete dominance, the effect of one allele in a heterozygous genotype completely masks
the effect of the other. The allele that masks the other is said to be dominant to the latter, and
the allele that is masked is said to be recessive to the former. Complete dominance therefore
means that the phenotype of the heterozygote is indistinguishable from that of the dominant
homozygote.

A classic example of dominance is the inheritance of seed shape (pea shape) in peas. Peas may
be round (associated with allele R) or wrinkled (associated with allele r). In this case, three
combinations of alleles (genotypes) are possible: RR and rrare homozygous and Rr is
heterozygous. The RR individuals have round peas and the rr individuals have wrinkled peas.
In Rr individuals the R allele masks the presence of the r allele, so these individuals also have
round peas. Thus, allele R is dominant to allele r, and allele r is recessive to allele R.

Incomplete and semi-dominance

This Punnett square illustrates incomplete dominance. In this example, the red petal trait associated with the
R allele blends with the white petal trait of the r allele so that plants with the Rr genotype have pink flowers.

Incomplete dominance (also called partial dominance) occurs when the phenotype of the
heterozygous genotype is distinct from and often intermediate to the phenotypes of the
homozygous genotypes. For example, the snapdragon flower color is either homozygous for red
or white. When the red homozygous flower is paired with the white homozygous flower, the
result yields a pink snapdragon flower. The pink snapdragon is the result of incomplete
dominance. A similar type of incomplete dominance is found in the four o'clock plant wherein
pink color is produced when true-bred parents of white and red flowers are crossed.
In quantitative genetics, where phenotypes are measured and treated numerically, if a
heterozygote's phenotype is exactly between (numerically) that of the two homozygotes, the
phenotype is said to exhibit no dominance at all, i.e. dominance exists only when the
heterozygote's phenotype measure lies closer to one homozygote than the other.

When plants of the F1 generation are self-pollinated, the phenotypic and genotypic ratio of the
F2 generation will be 1:2:1 (Red:Pink:White) for both generations.
Co-dominance

Co-dominance in a Camelliacultivar

A and B blood types in humans show co-dominance, but the O type is recessive to A and B.
Co-dominance occurs when the contributions of both alleles are visible in the phenotype.
For example, in the ABO blood group system, chemical modifications to aglycoprotein (the H
antigen) on the surfaces of blood cells are controlled by three alleles, two of which are co-
dominant to each other (IA, IB) and dominant over the recessive i at the ABO locus.
The IA and IB alleles produce different modifications. The enzyme coded for by IA adds an N-
acetylgalactosamine to the membrane-bound H antigen. The IB enzyme adds a galactose.

The i allele produces no modification. Thus IA and IB alleles are each dominant
to i (IAIA and IAi individuals both have type A blood, and IBIB and IBi individuals both have type
B blood. But IAIB individuals have both modifications on their blood cells and thus have type AB
blood, so the IA and IBalleles are said to be co-dominant.)

Another example occurs at the locus for the Beta-globin component of hemoglobin, where the
three molecular phenotypes of HbA/HbA, HbA/HbS, and HbS/HbS are all distinguishable
by protein electrophoresis. (The medical condition produced by the heterozygous genotype is
called sickle-cell trait and is a milder condition distinguishable from sickle-cell anemia, thus the
alleles show incomplete dominance with respect to anemia, see above). For most gene loci at
the molecular level, both alleles are expressed co-dominantly, because both
are transcribed into RNA.

Co-dominance, where allelic products co-exist in the phenotype, is different from incomplete or
semi-dominance, where the quantitative interaction of allele products produces an
intermediate phenotype. For example in Co-dominance, a red homozygous flower and a white
homozygous flower will produce offspring that have red and white spots. When plants of the F1
generation are self-pollinated, the phenotypic and genotypic ratio of the F2 generation will be
1:2:1 (Red:Spotted:White). These ratios are the same as those for incomplete dominance.
Again, note that this classical terminology is inappropriate – in reality such cases should not be
said to exhibit dominance at all.

Which trait is dominant?

By definition, the terms dominant and recessive refer to the genotypic interaction of alleles in
producing the phenotype of the heterozygote. The key concept is genetic: Which of the two
alleles present in the heterozygote is expressed, such that the organism is phenotypically
identical to one of the two homozygotes. It is sometimes convenient to talk about the trait
corresponding to the dominant allele as the dominant trait, and the trait corresponding to the
hidden allele as therecessive trait. However, this can easily lead to confusion in understanding
the concept as phenotypic. For example, to say that "green peas" dominate "yellow peas"
confuses inherited genotypes and expressed phenotypes, and will subsequently confuse
discussion of the molecular basis of the phenotypic difference.

Dominance is not inherent. One allele can be dominant to a second allele, recessive to a third
allele, and codominant to a fourth.

Dominance is unrelated to the nature of the phenotype itself, that is, whether it is regarded as
"normal" or "abnormal," "standard" or "nonstandard," "healthy" or "diseased," "stronger" or
"weaker," or more or less extreme. A dominant allele may account for any of these trait types.
Other distinctions are made between the gene locus (e.g. "A gene influencing seed shape"), the
alleles at that locus (e.g. the "round" or "wrinkled alleles"), and the phenotype the alleles
produce (e.g."round" or "wrinkled").