pleiotropyn.
/plʌɪˈɒtrəpi/, U.S. /plaɪˈɑtrəpi/ Genetics.
The production by a single gene of two or more apparently unrelated phenotypic effects; an instance of this.
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic constitution > [noun] > phenotype > phenotypic effects
potency1916
pleiotropism1927
position effect1930
penetrance1934
pleiotropy1938
complementation1958
1938 R. Goldschmidt Physiol. Genetics ii. 85 In the section on pleiotropy, we have given an example, the vestigial series, corresponding to the second diagram.
1957 C. H. Waddington Strategy of Genes 208 The more detailed the analysis, the more pleiotropy will be uncovered.
1973 Nature 21 Dec. 499/2 True pleiotropies of blood group genes are impossible to identify with the relatively crude characterisation of blood group specificities presently available.
1992 Sci. Amer. Dec. 88/2 What is worse,..alleles that were destructive late in life would be adopted readily if they somehow improved fitness to any extent early in life—a duality known as antagonistic pleiotropy.
1993 Nature 4 Feb. 398/3 Because of the well-established phenomenon of pleiotropy..perceptual biases could be wired into the brain for reasons quite unrelated to reproduction.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1938