Home >> Science & Nature >> Science

What Is a Recessive Character?

The term "recessive character" is a genetic term that refers to a recessive character trait. The terms recessive characteristic, recessive trait, recessive allele and recessive gene are also used to refer to a recessive character. All traits are either recessive or dominant. Dominant traits are more common and only require one parent to be a carrier of the trait. In a recessive trait, both parents must be carriers for the trait to be expressed in offspring.

History
- All modern genetics can be traced back to Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk whose experiments with pea plants led him to the conclusion that dominant and recessive characters determined the makeup of offspring plants. Mendel isolated seven characteristics of pea plants and by breeding the plants was able to determine which traits were recessive and which were dominant.
Plants
- Since recessive characters were discovered through plant breeding, it's fitting that so much work has been done to both bring out and suppress recessive characters in plants. The practice of breeding plants in a planned way to bring about desirable results is called hybridization. Long before Mendel, people were practicing some form of hybridization, but with Mendel's work and further research, both farmers and scientists became more familiar with how recessive characters were passed down from one generation to the next and were able to successfully breed plants to control things like flavor, hardiness and seed texture in the fruits produced.
Animals
- The same practice of planned breeding to deliberately bring out or suppress recessive characters has also been used for practical purposes with domesticated animals. Many of today's farm animals are the results of years of planned breeding. Dog breeders are familiar with canine recessive and dominant traits and breed accordingly. Examples of recessive characteristics in dogs include light eyes, bulging eyes, fine skull size, large skull size, overbites, underbites and pronounced parietal crests.
People
- In people, the interaction of recessive and dominant characteristics is seen most often in physical appearance. However, some genetically based diseases and disorders are controlled by recessive and dominant characteristics. Genetic testing is still a relatively new field, and new research is helping scientists and the medical profession to understand and control the spread of certain hereditary conditions. Some examples of physical recessive characteristics in people include smooth chins, lack of dimples, absence of freckles and straight hairlines.

Science