Incomplete Dominance: Understanding Blended Traits in Genetics

When an individual has a trait that is intermediate between the traits of their parents, this is referred to as "incomplete dominance". In incomplete dominance, neither the dominant nor the recessive allele is completely expressed in the offspring. Instead, a blended or intermediate phenotype is observed.

For example, in snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus), when a homozygous red-flowered plant (RR) is crossed with a homozygous white-flowered plant (rr), the offspring (Rr) exhibit pink flowers. In this case, the red color is dominant over white, but the heterozygous offspring have an intermediate phenotype, which is pink.