Dominance (genetics)

The relationship between the phenotype of a heterozygote and those of the two corresponding homozygotes at a genetic locus. Under complete dominance, one allele gives the same phenotype in the heterozygote as in its homozygote; the term describes expression rather than the frequency or evolutionary advantage of the allele.

For a specified characteristic, complete dominance means that the heterozygote has the same phenotype as one of the two homozygotes. It does not mean that the dominant allele is more common, more advantageous, or transmitted more often. Penetrance specifies the conditional probability of an expressed phenotype given a genotype and is a separate modeling assumption.