Overdominance
Sign in to saveOverdominance is a phenomenon in genetics where the phenotype of the heterozygote lies outside the phenotypical range of both homozygous parents. Overdominance can also be described as heterozygote advantage regulated by a single genomic locus, wherein heterozygous individuals have a higher fitness than homozygous individuals. However, not all cases of the heterozygote advantage are considered overdominance, as they may be regulated by multiple genomic regions. Overdominance has been hypothesized as an underlying cause for heterosis (increased fitness of hybrid offspring).
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- Examples
- Sickle cell anemia
- Salmonoid major histocompatibility complex
- ''Gymnadenia rhellicani'' colour polymorphism
- Polar overdominance
- Gillespie convention
- See also
- References
- References
Overdominance is a phenomenon in genetics where the phenotype of the heterozygote lies outside the phenotypical range of both homozygous parents. Overdominance can also be described as heterozygote advantage regulated by a single genomic locus, wherein heterozygous individuals have a higher fitness than homozygous individuals. However, not all cases of the heterozygote advantage are considered overdominance, as they may be regulated by multiple genomic regions. Overdominance has been hypothesized as an underlying cause for heterosis (increased fitness of hybrid offspring).
thumb|Sickle cell anemia overdominance
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Overdominance” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.