Polygenic Inheritance
- Genes can have varying effects on an organism's phenotype:
- Some characteristics (i.e. the phenotype) are controlled by a single gene - these characteristics are known as monogenic
- These characteristics usually show discontinuous variation (e.g. blood group)
- Inheritance of these characteristics is known as monogenic inheritance
- Other characteristics are controlled by several genes - these characteristics are known as polygenic
- These characteristics usually show continuous variation (e.g. height, mass, skin colour)
- Inheritance of these characteristics is known as polygenic inheritance
- Some characteristics (i.e. the phenotype) are controlled by a single gene - these characteristics are known as monogenic