Question

Provide explanations of genotypes and phenotypes.

Answer 1

Answer: Genotype is the genetic makeup or composition of an organism while phenotype is the outward appearance of an organism.

Explanation: Genotype is a set of gene that controls a specific trait in an organism while phenotype is the observed physical characteristics or traits of an organism.

Every trait is controlled by a pair of gene known as the genotype, and this pair of gene is what determines the physical characteristics that can be observed in the organism.

For instance, the height of an individual is determined by a pair of gene, the gene cannot be seen physically but the outward manifestation of the gene which is the person's height can be observed. It can be observed that the person is either tall or short. This outward appearance is known as the phenotype while the gene that controls it is known as the genotype.

Answer 2

The phenotype is the physical appearance of an organism, while the Genotype is the genetic composition of an organism. Phenotype is observable and are the expression of the genes of an individual. So even the organism with the same species may differ, with a minute difference in their genotype. This is the main difference between the two.

We can notice one’s hair colour, eye colour, height, weight, skin colour, etc. but cannot look at genes responsible for these characters, so the observable physical look is the phenotype while the unnoticed genes responsible for such characters present in the DNA of cell of the individual is genotype.

To explain the above lines, here is the simple example of a pure red colour flowering plant (RR) is crossed with the white colour flowering plant (rr). The result of the Genotype of the F1 generation will be – Rr (Hybrid red colour), and the Phenotype of the F1 generation will be the – Red colour flowering plant.

Genotype and phenotype are the two very closely related and similar-sounding words, but their meaning is different. Our earth has a dynamic variety of organisms, present in soil, water and on land. But as the genome of each organism is different, and so there phenotypes also whether it’s their colour, height, weight or other morphological features.