
Incomplete dominance occurs in the polygenic inheritance of traits such as eye color and skin color. It is a cornerstone in the study of non-Mendelian
Gregor Mendel
Gregor Johann Mendel was a scientist, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brno, Margraviate of Moravia. Mendel was born in a German-speaking family in the Silesian part of the Austrian Empire and gained posthumous recognition as the founder of the modern scienc…
What are the examples of incomplete dominance?
Incomplete Dominance in Plants
- Incomplete dominance was first recorded in plants. ...
- Four-o-clocks are flowering plants that get their funny name from their inclination to bloom in the late afternoon. ...
- Pink snapdragons are a result of incomplete dominance. ...
- The fruit color of eggplants is another example of incomplete dominance. ...
What is the genotype of incomplete dominance?
Incomplete dominance is a form of Gene interaction in which both alleles of a gene at a locus are partially expressed, often resulting in an intermediate or different phenotype. It is also known as partial dominance. For eg., in roses, the allele for red colour is dominant over the allele for white colour. But, the heterozygous flowers with ...
What is the law of incomplete dominance?
What is the law of incomplete dominance? Incomplete dominance is when a dominant allele, or form of a gene, does not completely mask the effects of a recessive allele, and the organism’s resulting physical appearance shows a blending of both alleles.
What is the inheritance pattern of incomplete dominance?
What type of inheritance pattern is a mixture of both traits? Incomplete dominance occurs when neither trait is truly dominant over the other. This means that both traits can be expressed in the same regions, resulting a blending of two phenotypes. If a white and black dog produce a gray offspring, this is an example of incomplete dominance.
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See 7 key topics from this page & related content

What is incomplete dominance with example?
Incomplete dominance is a form of Gene interaction in which both alleles of a gene at a locus are partially expressed, often resulting in an intermediate or different phenotype. It is also known as partial dominance. For eg., in roses, the allele for red colour is dominant over the allele for white colour.
What does it mean for something to have incomplete dominance?
Incomplete dominance (biology definition): a lack of dominance in either of two different alleles in heterozygotes, so that the phenotype is intermediate between that of homozygotes for either of the two alleles. Synonyms: partial dominance.
What is complete and incomplete dominance?
In complete dominance, only one allele in the genotype is seen in the phenotype. In codominance, both alleles in the genotype are seen in the phenotype. In incomplete dominance, a mixture of the alleles in the genotype is seen in the phenotype.
What is incomplete dominance vs codominance?
Codominance and Incomplete dominance are two types of genetic inheritance. Codominance essentially means that no allele can block or mask the expression of the other allele. On the other hand, incomplete dominance is a condition in which a dominant allele does not completely mask the effects of a recessive allele.
What is the difference between dominance and incomplete dominance?
In complete dominance, one allele is dominant over the other allele in the pair while, in incomplete dominance, neither allele in the pair is dominant or recessive.
What causes incomplete dominance?
Incomplete dominance can occur because neither of the two alleles is fully dominant over the other, or because the dominant allele does not fully dominate the recessive allele. This results in a phenotype that is different from both the dominant and recessive alleles, and appears to be a mixture of both.
What is incomplete dominance quizlet?
Incomplete Dominance. Two alleles, inherited from the parents, are neither dominant nor recessive. The result is a phenotype that is a blending of the two alleles. Codominance.
What is incomplete dominance quizlet?
Incomplete Dominance. Two alleles, inherited from the parents, are neither dominant nor recessive. The result is a phenotype that is a blending of the two alleles. Codominance.
What causes incomplete dominance?
Incomplete dominance can occur because neither of the two alleles is fully dominant over the other, or because the dominant allele does not fully dominate the recessive allele. This results in a phenotype that is different from both the dominant and recessive alleles, and appears to be a mixture of both.
Which statements describe incomplete dominance?
Which statement describes the difference between incomplete dominance and codominance? - In codominance, only one allele is expressed in the offspring; In incomplete dominance, both alleles are expressed in the offspring.
Which is an example of incomplete dominance quizlet?
Incomplete dominance occurs when a heterozygote displays a blend of the two alleles. An example would be a pink flower. In chickens where feather color can be codominant, what would be the phenotype of a heterozygote with the genotype, BW.
What is incomplete dominance?
Incomplete dominance is a type of inheritance, specifically a type of intermediate inheritance where one allele for a specific trait isn’t entirely expressed (entirely dominant) over its paired allele.
What are the effects of alleles on polygenic traits?
The effects of alleles that influence polygenic traits are additive in nature, meaning that they each contribute a varying amount of the phenotypic expression. Because of this, it is possible for individuals to have varying degrees of recessive phenotypes, intermediate phenotypes, and dominant phenotypes. ADVERTISEMENT.
How are phenotypes expressed in polygenic circumstances?
You can think about the way phenotypes are expressed in polygenic circumstances like this: Individuals who inherited more dominant alleles show a greater expression of that dominant phenotype. Individuals who have inherited more recessive alleles naturally display more of that recessive phenotype.
What is the set of alleles that determines the phenotype of an organism?
The set of alleles an organism is referred to as it’s genotype. The fact that the relationship between alleles is not merely dominant or recessive in nature doesn’t mean that in circumstances of incomplete dominance or multiple alleles the alleles don’t determine the phenotype of the organism.
What are polygenic traits?
Polygenic traits are traits like skin color, weight, height and eye colors. Furthermore, polygenic traits are determined by multiple genes and by the interaction of several different alleles with one another. The genes that are responsible for defining these traits have equal influence over the phenotype and different chromosomes contain the alleles for these genes. The effects of alleles that influence polygenic traits are additive in nature, meaning that they each contribute a varying amount of the phenotypic expression. Because of this, it is possible for individuals to have varying degrees of recessive phenotypes, intermediate phenotypes, and dominant phenotypes.
What is the result of a phenotype?
The result is a phenotype (expression) where the expressed physical trait is a combination of both of the phenotypes that belong to the alleles. One allele doesn’t mask or dominate the other alleles in this instance.
How many alleles are there in a gene?
While Mendel’s work may have suggested that there were only two alleles present for every gene, that’s actually rarely the case in nature. While diploid organisms exist, multiple alleles often exist at the level of the population and different individuals within said population can have different allele pairs.
What are some examples of incomplete dominance?
Incomplete dominance in animals is most widely studied in domestic animals since it's important for their health, appearance, and value. Here are several examples of the effects of incomplete dominance in animals: 1 Chickens with blue feathers are an example of incomplete dominance. When a black and a white chicken reproduce and neither allele is completely dominant, the result is a blue-feathered bird. 2 When a long-furred Angora rabbit and a short-furred Rex rabbit reproduce, the result can be a rabbit with fur longer than a Rex, but shorter than an Angora. That's a classic example of incomplete dominance producing a trait different from either of the parents. 3 Tail length in dogs is often determined by incomplete dominance. Pups of long-tailed and short-tailed parents often split the difference and have medium-length tails. 4 On the subject of dogs, lots of labradoodles have wavy hair. Just like humans, that comes from having straight-haired and curly-haired parents. The result is an intermediate inheritance: the wavy-haired labradoodle. 5 The cream gene in horses is a classic incomplete dominant. When paired with a red allele, the cream allele produces horses with golden coats such as palominos and buckskins.
What is the cream gene in horses?
The cream gene in horses is a classic incomplete dominant. When paired with a red allele, the cream allele produces horses with golden coats such as palominos and buckskins.
What causes liver cells to be generated without cholesterol receptors?
One allele causes liver cells to be generated without cholesterol receptors, while another causes them to be generated normally. The incomplete dominance causes the generation of cells that do not have enough receptors to remove all dangerous cholesterol from the bloodstream.
Is incomplete dominance rare?
Incomplete dominance is rare in humans ; we're genetically complex and most of our traits come from multiple genes. However, there are a few examples. Incomplete dominance is just part of what makes our species so complicated and interesting.
When did genetics start?
The science of genetics began with plants. People have been interbreeding plants for particular traits since we first started farming more than 11,000 years ago. Gregor Mendel, one of the founders of genetic science, began his studies by recording the ways he planted his garden. Whether for food, other uses, or simple beauty, humans have employed genetic selection of plants, including incomplete dominance, throughout our history.
Is genetics easy to understand?
Many traits come down to complex interactions between lots of different genes. But by learning the basic mechanisms involved, such as incomplete dominance, it becomes far easier to understand.
Is incomplete dominance the same as codominance?
Codominance is a similar yet different phenomenon. While in incomplete dominance, neither allele is dominant, in codominance, both alleles are. As a result, codominant traits are expressed equally in the phenotype; that is, the result is a combination of the two traits. That differs from incomplete dominance, in which the result is something new, as the examples of incomplete dominance below demonstrate.
What is incomplete dominance?
Incomplete dominance is a form of intermediate inheritance in which one allele for a specific trait is not completely expressed over its paired allele.
What is the intermediate trait of incomplete dominance?
In incomplete dominance, the intermediate trait is the heterozygous genotype. In the case of snapdragon plants, plants with pink flowers are heterozygous with the (Rr) genotype. The red and white flowering plants are both homozygous for plant color with genotypes of (RR) red and (rr) white .
What is the additive effect of alleles?
The alleles have an additive effect on the phenotype resulting in varying degrees of phenotypic expression. Individuals may express varying degrees of a dominant phenotype, recessive phenotype, or intermediate phenotype. Those that inherit more dominant alleles will have a greater expression of the dominant phenotype.
What is the ratio of phenotype to genotype?
Mendel described a genotype ratio of 1:2:1 and a phenotype ratio of 3:1. Both would be consequential for further research.
How are polygenic traits determined?
Polygenic traits, such as height, weight, eye color, and skin color, are determined by more than one gene and by interactions among several alleles. The genes contributing to these traits equally influence the phenotype and the alleles for these genes are found on different chromosomes .
Which allele will have a greater expression of the dominant phenotype?
Those that inherit more dominant alleles will have a greater expression of the dominant phenotype.
When did genetics become a science?
Scientists have noted the blending of traits back into ancient times, although until Mendel, no one used the words "incomplete dominance." In fact, Genetics was not a scientific discipline until the 1800s when Viennese scientist and friar Gregor Mendel (1822–1884) began his studies.
Which allele is dominant to all the other alleles?
Multiple alleles makes for many possible dominance relationships. In this case, the black allele is completely dominant to all the others; the chinchilla allele is incompletely dominant to the Himalayan and albino alleles; and the Himalayan allele is completely dominant to the albino allele.
Why was Mendel's results groundbreaking?
Mendel’s results were groundbreaking partly because they contradicted the (then-popular) idea that parents' traits were permanently blended in their offspring. In some cases, however, the phenotype of a heterozygous organism can actually be a blend between the phenotypes of its homozygous parents.
How did rabbit breeders find out the relationship between different rabbits?
Rabbit breeders figured out these relationships by crossing different rabbits of different genotypes and observing the phenotypes of the heterozygous kits ( baby bunnies).
How many alleles are there in a gene?
Mendel's work suggested that just two alleles existed for each gene. Today, we know that's not always, or even usually, the case! Although individual humans (and all diploid organisms) can only have two alleles for a given gene, multiple alleles may exist in a population level, and different individuals in the population may have different pairs of these alleles.
What determines an organism's phenotype?
In these cases, an organism's genotype, or set of alleles, still determines its phenotype, or observable features. However, a variety of alleles may interact with one another in different ways to specify phenotype.
Do alleles have dominance?
Allele pairs may have a variety of dominance relationships (that is, one allele of the pair may not completely “hide” the other in the heterozygote).
Did Mendel's pea genes show complexities?
As a side note, we're probably lucky that Mendel's pea genes didn't show these complexities. If they had, it’s possible that Mendel would not have understood his results, and wouldn't have figured out the core principles of inheritance—which are key in helping us understand the special cases!

Mechanisms of Incomplete Dominance
- Many genes show complete dominance. This means that if an individual is heterozygous for a particular gene, the dominant allele will completely mask the recessive allele. Many of the properties that the Austrian monk Gregor Mendel studied in his famous pea plants were controll…
Incomplete Dominance and Codominance
- Incomplete dominance is not the same as codominance. In codominance, both alleles can be seen in the phenotype at the same time. Instead of being uniformly pink, a flower with red and white alleles that show codominance will have patches of red and patches of white. As with incomplete dominance, the F2 generation from heterozygous plants will have a ratio of 1:2:1 of r…
Examples of Incomplete Dominance
- In Humans
A child born to a parent with straight hair and a parent with curly hair will usually have wavy hair, or hair that is a little curled, due to the expression of both curly and straight alleles. Incomplete dominance can be seen in many other physical characteristics such as skincolor, height, hand si… - In Other Animals
The Andalusian chicken, a type of chicken native to the Andalusia region of Spain, shows incomplete dominance in its feather color. A white male and a black female will often produce offspring that have blue-tinged feathers. This is caused by a dilution gene that partially dilutes th…
Related Biology Terms
- Allele– A certain form of a gene.
- Dominant– An allele that masks the phenotype of a recessive allele for the same gene.
- Phenotype– Observable physical characteristics from genes and the environment.
- Punnett square– A diagram that shows the possible outcomes of breeding between two individuals.
Quiz
- 1. Which is NOT an example of incomplete dominance? A. A pink flower produced from red and white flowers B. A flower that is both red and white produced from red and white flowers C. Curly-haired and straight-haired individuals producing wavy-haired offspring D.A highly spotted dog and a non-spotted dog producing puppies with a few spots 2. A rose shows incomplete dominance; …
What Is Incomplete Dominance?
Mechanism of Incomplete Dominance
- Incomplete dominance occurs because neither of the two alleles is completely dominant over the other. This results in a phenotype that is a combination of both. Gregor Mendel conducted experiments on pea plants. He studied on seven characters with contrasting traits and all of them showed a similar pattern of inheritance. Based on this, he generalized the law of inheritance. Lat…
Concept of Dominance
- In genetics, Dominance is a relationship between alleles of one gene. In order to understand the concept of the dominance of alleles, we need to know more about genes. So far we know that genes are a hereditary unit in organisms which exist as a pair of alleles in diploid organisms. These pair of alleles may or may not be similar. That is, a heterozygous gene has two dissimilar …
Incomplete Dominance and Codominance
- Incomplete dominance and codominance are different from each other. In codominance, both the alleles present on a gene are expressed in the phenotype. A flower showing codominance will have patches of red and white instead of a uniformly pink flower. In incomplete dominance, the F2 generation from heterozygous plants will have a ratio of 1:2:1 with the phenotypes red, white an…