Definition of Codominance

We look and act the way we do because of our genes. Genes are units of hereditary information that
are located on segments of chromosomes. The genes for a specific trait may exist in different forms
known as alleles.
An example of an allele or a gene is a flower color. A flower may have alleles that make it red, or
pink, and so on. Alleles that always show up when they are present are known as dominant alleles.
Alleles that are masked or hidden by dominant alleles are known as recessive alleles. In some
situations, both alleles are expressed equally. A genetic scenario where neither allele is dominant or
recessive and both get expressed is known as codominance.

Codominance Definition
Codominance occurs when two versions, or “alleles,” of the same gene are
present in a living thing, and both are expressed. Instead of one trait being
dominant over the other, both traits appear.

Codominance is easy to spot in plants and animals that have more than one
pigment color. Spotted cows and flowers with petals of two different colors are
examples of codominance, for example.

Codominance also occurs in some less visible traits, such as blood type. The A
and B alleles for blood type can both be expressed at the same time, resulting in
type AB blood.

In genetics, “dominant” genes are those that are always expressed if they are
found in an organism. Dominant genes may be expressed as co-dominant –
where two different traits are both expressed alongside each other – or as
dominant/recessive, where the presence of a dominant gene completely masks
the presence of a recessive gene.
Examples of Codominance
Livestock

When a chicken with white feathers breeds with a chicken with black feathers,
the result is an offspring chicken that grows up to have both black and white
feathers.

Likewise, when a red cattle breeds with a red cattle, the resulting offspring may
show both red and white hairs, resulting in a mixed coat pattern called “roan.”

Rhododendron

Rhododendrons and other flowers may also exhibit codominance.

In the case of rhododendrons, the crossing of a red and white flower may yield a
flower that has both red and white patches.

Many flowers show similar patterns of codominance, where both of the parental
flower colors show up in different parts of the plant.

1. Which of the following is NOT an example of codominance?

A. A child of parents with blood types A and B, who has AB blood type.
B. A calf of a red cow and a white cow, who has a roan coat consisting of red
and white hairs.
C. A child of a parent with blue eyes and a parent with brown eyes, who has
brown eyes.
D. A flower offspring of red and white flowers, which has both red and white
petals.

Answer to Question #1

2. Which of the following is NOT true of dominant genes?

A. Dominant genes are always expressed wherever they are present.
B. A dominant gene will overpower all other genes to be the only one expressed.
C. Two dominant genes can be expressed together in a situation of co-
dominance.
D. None of the above.

Codominance in Plants
Red and white flowers of Camellia are examples of codominance.
╬ It can be observed very distinctly in case of plants, and can be easily
discerned from a case of incomplete dominance. The most commonly
observed examples are that of the color of the flowers. Hypothetically, if one
were to cross two plants that produce a yellow and a blue flower, and if the
alleles of the gene responsible for petal color followed incomplete dominance,
the resultant flower would be green in color. But if the alleles were
codominant in nature, the flower produced by the progeny plant would either
be yellow with blue spots or blue with yellow spots.