Q.

Dominant alleles are expressed exclusively in a heterozygote, while recessive traits are expressed only if the organism is _______ for the recessive allele.

1 Homozygous  
2 Heterozygous  
3 Normal  
4 None of these  

Ans.

(1)

Mendel’s law of dominance states that in a heterozygote, one trait will conceal the presence of another trait for the same characteristic. Rather than both alleles contributing to a phenotype, the dominant allele will be expressed exclusively. The recessive allele will remain “latent,” but will be transmitted to offspring by the same manner in which the dominant allele is transmitted. The recessive trait will only be expressed by offspring that have two copies of this allele.