PHENOTYPE AND GENOTYPE

This is the "outward, physical manifestation" of the organism. These are the
physical parts, the sum of the atoms, molecules, macromolecules, cells, structures,
metabolism, energy utilization, tissues, organs, reflexes and behaviors; anything that is part
of the observable structure, function or behavior of a living organism.

This is the "internally coded, inheritable information" carried by all living

organisms. This stored information is used as a "blueprint" or set of instructions for building
and maintaining a living creature. These instructions are found within almost all cells (the
"internal" part), they are written in a coded language (the genetic code), they are copied at
the time of cell division or reproduction and are passed from one generation to the next
("inheritable"). These instructions are intimately involved with all aspects of the life of a cell
or an organism. They control everything from the formation of protein macromolecules, to
the regulation of metabolism and synthesis.

RELATIONSHIP

The "internally coded, inheritable information", or Genotype, carried by all living organisms,
holds the critical instructions that are used and interpreted by the cellular machinary of the
cells to produce the "outward, physical manifestation", or Phenotype of the organism.

Thus, all the physical parts, the molecules, macromolecules, cells and other structures, are
built and maintained by cells following the instructions give by the genotype. As these
physical structures begin to act and interact with one another they can produce larger and
more complex phenomena such as metabolism, energy utilization, tissues, organs, reflexes
and behaviors; anything that is part of the observable structure, function or behavior of a
living organism.

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Genetic Trait

Traits are small parts of the phenotype of an organism, such as the red color seen in the
flower petals.

Under the magnifying power of a microscope, the flower petal cells can be seen to contain
red granular material that is absorbing the rays of white light and only reflecting the "red"
wavelengths. That is why the flower petals look red to our eyes.
Using a microscope with greater magnifying power, such as an electron microscope, it can
be seen that the petal cells are packed with pigment granules, but the observer cannot see
where these granules are coming from.

It takes the tools of molecular and cellular biology to see that, in the cytoplasm of the cell, a
chemical reaction is taking place in which a colorless molecule is being converted into a red
pigment molecule As with all chemical reactions within cells, this conversion reaction is
catalyzed by an enzyme catalyst. Without this enzyme catalyst, the reaction would proceed
so slowly that little or no pigment would be produced.

The enzyme catalyst makes the chemical reaction proceed at "life speed".

When the enzyme is present in the cell it can produce a lot of pigment and pigment
granules. As these granules accumulate in the cells the flower petals turn red - the genetic
trait.

The "red" trait, therefore is the product of a chemical reaction catalyzed by the enzyme.
Almost all enzymes are proteins.
Almost all traits are produced by the action of proteins.

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Flow of Information

DNA molecules store the necessary instructions for building a protein macromolecule.

These instructions are copied from the DNA molecule into the form of an RNA molecule.
One, or many copies can be made of these instructions.

Each of these RNA copies (often called 'messenger RNA' or 'mRNA') move away from the
DNA templates and enter the cytoplasm of the cell, where they encounter the machinery
that will convert the biological information (the instructions) into the correct linear
sequence of amino acids that will become a functioning protein.

Once the protein has been correctly assembled and folded it can go to work. In the example
of the red-color trait, this protein is in the form of an enzyme catalyst that enhances and
speeds up the chemical reaction producing the red pigment.

As the protein goes to work the trait is produced. In this example, the trait is the red color
seen in the petals of the flower.

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Genetic Code

The Genetic Code is stored on one of the two strands of a DNA molecules as a linear, non-
overlapping sequence of the nitrogenous bases Adenine (A), Guanine (G), Cytosine (C) and
Thymine (T). These are the "alphabet" of letters that are used to write the "code words".

The genetic code consists of a sequence of three letter "words" (sometimes called 'triplets',
sometimes called 'codons'), written one after another along the length of the DNA strand.
Each code word is a unique combination of three letters (like the ones shown above) that
will eventually be interpreted as a single amino acid in a polypeptide chain. There are 64
code words possible from an 'alphabet' of four letters.

One of these code words, the 'start signal' begins all the sequences that code for amino acid
chains. Three of these code words act as 'stop signals' that indicate that the message is over.
All the other sequences code for specific amino acids.

Some amino acids are only coded for by a single 'word', while some others are coded for by
up to four 'words'. The genetic code is redundant.

Source:

 http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/ahp/BioInfo/SD.Geno.HP.html

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