Genotypes are described as heterozygous if the two alleles of a gene differ. Alleles contribute to the organism's phenotype, which is the outward appearance of the organism. Some alleles are dominant or recessive. When an organism is heterozygous at a specific locus and carries one dominant and one recessive allele, the organism will express the dominant phenotype.
An allele is one of two or more versions of a gene. An individual inherits two alleles for each gene, one from each parent. If the two alleles are the same, the individual is homozygous for that gene. If the alleles are different, the individual is heterozygous.
