pleiotropy
/plʌɪˈɒtrəpi
/noun [mass noun] Genetics
The production by a single gene of two or more apparently unrelated effects.If gene effects on the trait and fitness are correlated due to pleiotropy, genes of large effect on the trait will remain at much lower frequencies....
- At the level of populations, the scaling of mutational effects with pleiotropy can be addressed via the neutral theory of molecular evolution.
- These studies demonstrated that performance and preference of host-plant use may be genetically associated by linkage or pleiotropy, and evolve as correlated traits.
Derivatives
pleiotropic
- Similarly, mutations within the Drosophila CBP homolog have wide-ranging pleiotropic phenotypes.
- Many semidwarf mutants have pleiotropic effects on traits other than culm length.
- Many mutants died or showed pleiotropic defects casting doubt on the specificity of their retinal phenotype and were not included in this report.
pleiotropism
- If the majority of mutations have large negative impacts on fitness, pleiotropism will act to increase their selective effects in nature.
- Pleiotropism is a hallmark of cytokines and growth factors; yet, the underlying mechanisms are not clearly understood.
- The gene exhibited pleiotropism by influencing not only oleate and linoleate, but also levels of palmitate, gadoleate, and total saturated fatty acids.
Origin
1930s: from Greek pleiōn 'more' + tropē 'turning'.