Biology Final Vocabulary

Incomplete Dominance

Where a heterozygous individual expresses blended traits

Codominance

Where both alleles are expressed simultaneously

Pleiotropy

Where one gene controls multiple traits

Polygenic

Where multiple genes control a single trait

Obligatory Symbionts

Organisms that are dependent on each other for survival

Facultative Symbionts

Organisms that are capable of living independently

Mutualism

Where both organisms benefit each other

Commensalism

Where one organism gets benefited while the other is unaffected by their presence

Parasitism

Where one organism gets benefited at the cost of the other being harmed

Genetic Drift

The process where allelic frequencies in a population changes due to random events

Gene Flow

The movement of alleles from one population to another

Morphological Species

Organisms with similar forms and functions

Biological Species

Groups of individuals who are able to breed with each other to produce viable offsprings

Allopatric Specitation

Geographic barriers separating members of population

Sympatric Specitation

A genetic or behavioural change that leads to reproductive isolation

Polyploidy

When an organism has more than two sets of homologous chromosomes

Gametic Isolation

When the reproductive cells of an organism do not fuse due to incompatibility

Zygote Mortality

When fertilization happens, but the gametes are incompatible due to a different number of chromosomes

Hybrid Stertility

When two species produce viable offsprings, but those offsprings cannot reproduce

Hybrid Breakdown

When two species produce viable, fertile offsprings, but the next generation has reduced fitness, causing their hybrids to die out

Silent Mutations

where a single amino acid in DNA gets changed but does not affect the protein sequence

Missense Mutations

where a single base changes in the DNA, yeilding a different amino acid

Nonsense Mutations

when a codon gets changed to a STOP codon, halting the translation process

Frameshift Mutations

where a single base in the DNA sequence gets added or deleted, shifting the reading frame by one letter

Heterozygous

a genotype represented by two different alleles

Homozygous

a genotype represented by two identical alleles

Dominant

the trait that is being expressed

Recessive

the trait hidden within the phenotype