A hypostatic gene is one whose
phenotype
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological propert ...
is altered by the expression of an
allele
An allele is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or Locus (genetics), locus, on a DNA molecule.
Alleles can differ at a single position through Single-nucleotide polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), ...
at a separate locus, in an
epistasis
Epistasis is a phenomenon in genetics in which the effect of a gene mutation is dependent on the presence or absence of mutations in one or more other genes, respectively termed modifier genes. In other words, the effect of the mutation is depe ...
event.
Example: In
labrador retriever
The Labrador Retriever or simply Labrador or Lab is a British list of dog breeds, breed of water dog retriever gun dog. It was developed in the United Kingdom from St. John's water dogs imported from the Newfoundland Colony, colony of Newfoun ...
s, the chocolate coat colour is a result of
homozygosity for a gene that is
epistatic
Epistasis is a phenomenon in genetics in which the effect of a gene mutation is dependent on the presence or absence of mutations in one or more other genes, respectively termed modifier genes. In other words, the effect of the mutation is depe ...
to the "black vs. brown" gene. The alleles determining whether the dog is black or brown, are that of the ''hypostatic gene'' in this event.
See also
*
Epistasis
Epistasis is a phenomenon in genetics in which the effect of a gene mutation is dependent on the presence or absence of mutations in one or more other genes, respectively termed modifier genes. In other words, the effect of the mutation is depe ...
*
Bombay phenotype
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12.5& ...
References
Further reading
{{cite book
, last = Hartwell
, first = Leland
, author2=L. Hood , author3=M. Goldberg , author4=A. Reynolds , author5=L. Silver , author6=R. Veres
, title = Genetics: From Genes to Genomes
, publisher = McGraw-Hill
, date = 2004
, location = New York, NY
, pages = 56–57
, url = http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072919302/information_center_view0/
, isbn = 0-07-246248-5
Classical genetics