influences to phenotypes

genetic material (genes)

genetic material (genes)

• Genes carry the instructions necessary for the creation of proteins

• These proteins, once created, will interact with each other and will contribute to the overall phenotype of the organism

environment

• Environmental factors such as temperature, nutrition, and sunlight affect phenotype

• They might directly affect physical appearance (e.g. dying hair a new colour) or affect the performance of proteins (e.g. tyrosinase in Himalayan rabbits)

epigenetics

• Environmental factors can cause epigenetic modifications

• These epigenetic modifications influence levels of transcription of a gene, often by methylation or histone modification

• By affecting transcription, epigenetic modifications influence how much of a protein product is made

proportionate heritability

where an organism’s phenotype is explained partly by genes and partly by environmental factors