Which term describes an organism's genetic makeup or allele combinations?

Which term describes an organism's genetic makeup or allele combinations?

• A. Genotype
• B. Phenotype
• C. Karyotype
• D. Genomic sequence

Answer: (A)

Genotype refers to the organism’s genetic makeup—the specific alleles present at each gene locus. It describes the combination of alleles, which can be homozygous (two identical alleles) or heterozygous (two different alleles). This genetic makeup sets the possibilities for traits, even though what you ultimately observe is the phenotype, the outward trait resulting from both genotype and environment. In contrast, phenotype is the visible or measurable trait; a karyotype looks at the number and arrangement of chromosomes; and a genomic sequence is the exact order of nucleotides in the genome.

Genotype refers to the organism’s genetic makeup—the specific alleles present at each gene locus. It describes the combination of alleles, which can be homozygous (two identical alleles) or heterozygous (two different alleles). This genetic makeup sets the possibilities for traits, even though what you ultimately observe is the phenotype, the outward trait resulting from both genotype and environment. In contrast, phenotype is the visible or measurable trait; a karyotype looks at the number and arrangement of chromosomes; and a genomic sequence is the exact order of nucleotides in the genome.