Homozygote

Homozygote

Zygosity is the degree of similarity of the alleles for a trait in an organism.

Most eukaryotes have two matching sets of chromosomes; that is, they are diploid. Diploid organisms have the same genes on each of their two sets of homologous chromosomes, except that the sequences of these genes may differ between the two chromosomes in a matching pair and that a few chromosomes may be mismatched as part of a sex-determination system. If both alleles of a diploid organism are the same, the organism is homozygous for the trait. If they are different, the organism is heterozygous for that trait. If one allele is missing, it is hemizygous, and, if both alleles are missing, it is nullizygous.

The DNA sequence of a gene usually varies from one individual to another. Those variations are called alleles. While some genes have only one allele because there is low variation, others have only one allele because only that allele can function properly. Any variation from the DNA sequence of that allele will be fatal in the embryo, and the organism will never survive to be born. But most genes have two or more alleles. The frequency of different alleles varies throughout the population. Some genes may have two alleles with equal distribution. For other genes, one allele may be common, and another allele may be rare. Sometimes, one allele is a disease - causing variation while the other allele is healthy. Sometimes, the different variations in the alleles make no difference at all in the function of the organism.

In diploid organisms, one allele is inherited from the male parent and one from the female parent. Zygosity is a description of whether those two alleles have identical or different DNA sequences. In some cases the term "zygosity" is used in the context of a single chromosome.