Genetics

Phenotype

표현형

Definition

The observable physical or biochemical characteristics of an organism, resulting from the interaction of genotype and environment.

Detailed Explanation

Phenotypic plasticity allows organisms to respond to environmental variation within a single lifetime without genetic change — a tadpole develops deeper tail fins when predators are present. Natural selection acts directly on phenotype, not genotype. The same phenotype can arise from different genotypes (genetic canalization) and the same genotype can produce different phenotypes (plasticity), complicating the prediction of traits from genes alone.

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