| mosaic inheritance | Inheritance in which the paternal influence is dominant in one group of cells and the maternal in another. Compare: lyonization. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| multifactorial inheritance | Type of hereditary pattern seen with a combination of genetic factors, sometimes with environmental influence. Skin colour, for example, is multifactorially determined. (12 Dec 1998) |
| polygenic inheritance | Inheritance in which a measurable phenotype is generated by many loci, the contributions of which are statistically independent, additive, and of about equal value. (The latter are in accordance with the classical central limit therein and justify the use of the multivariate normal distribution in galtonian genetics). Synonym: polygenic inheritance. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cytoplasmic inheritance | <genetics> Inheritance of parental characters through a nonchromosomal means, thus mitochondrial DNA is cytoplasmically inherited since the information is not segregated at mitosis. In a broader sense the organisation of a cell may be inherited through the continuity of structures from one generation to the next. It has often been speculated that the information for some structures may not be encoded in the genomic DNA, particularly in protozoa that have complex patterns of surface organelles. See: maternal inheritance. (18 Nov 1997) |
| X-linked inheritance | The pattern of inheritance that may result from a mutant gene on an X chromosome. (05 Mar 2000) |
| holandric inheritance | Inheritance by genes on the y chromosome. Also called holandric inheritance. (12 Dec 1998) |
| hologynic inheritance | Transmission of a trait from mother to her daughters but to no sons, attributed to attached (partially fused) X chromosomes, to cytoplasmic inheritance, or to sex limitation with abnormal segregation, e.g., haematocolpos. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sex-influenced inheritance | Inheritance that is autosomal but has a different intensity of xpression in the two sexes, e.g., male pattern baldness. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sex-limited inheritance | Inheritance of a trait that can be expressed in one sex only, e.g., testicular feminization. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sex-linked inheritance | The pattern of inheritance that may result from a mutant gene located on either the X or Y chromosome. (05 Mar 2000) |
| nonMendelian inheritance | <genetics> In eukaryotes, patterns of gene transmission not explicable in terms of segregation, independent assortment and linkage. May be due to cytoplasmic inheritance, gene conversion, meiotic drive, etc. (18 Nov 1997) |
| dominant inheritance | dominance of traits |
| inheritance | 1. The act or state of inheriting; as, the inheritance of an estate; the inheritance of mental or physical qualities. 2. That which is or may be inherited; that which is derived by an heir from an ancestor or other person; a heritage; a possession which passes by descent. "When the man dies, let the inheritance Descend unto the daughter." (Shak) 3. A permanent or valuable possession or blessing, especially. One received by gift or without purchase; a benefaction. "To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." (1 Pet. I. 4) 4. Possession; ownership; acquisition. "The inheritance of their loves." "To you th' inheritance belongs by right Of brother's praise; to you eke longs his love." (Spenser) 5. <biology> Transmission and reception by animal or plant generation. 6. A perpetual or continuing right which a man and his heirs have to an estate; an estate which a man has by descent as heir to another, or which he may transmit to another as his heir; an estate derived from an ancestor to an heir in course of law. The word inheritance (used simply) is mostly confined to the title to land and tenements by a descent. "Men are not proprietors of what they have, merely for themselves; their children have a title to part of it which comes to be wholly theirs when death has put an end to their parents' use of it; and this we call inheritance." (Locke) Origin: Cf. OF. Enheritance. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| extrachromosomal inheritance | Transmission of hereditary characters by non-chromosomal replicating cytoplasmic structures such as mitochondria, plastids, and plasmids. (12 Dec 1998) |
| extranuclear inheritance | <genetics> Inheritance of parental characters through a nonchromosomal means, thus mitochondrial DNA is cytoplasmically inherited since the information is not segregated at mitosis. In a broader sense the organisation of a cell may be inherited through the continuity of structures from one generation to the next. It has often been speculated that the information for some structures may not be encoded in the genomic DNA, particularly in protozoa that have complex patterns of surface organelles. See: maternal inheritance. (18 Nov 1997) |