Definition

Describing genes or traits that do not act as alleles, meaning they do not have alternative forms that can be inherited in the same way.

Example

The study focused on nonallelic interactions between different genes.

Conversation

Did you understand the concept of nonallelic traits from the lecture?

Not really, it sounded a bit complicated to me.

It's when genes act independently and don't behave like alleles toward each other.

Oh, that makes sense now! Thanks for explaining it.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Nonallelic → It is formed from "non-" (meaning not) and "allelic" (from "allele", which comes from the Greek "allelon", meaning of one another). The word "nonallelic" refers to genes that are not alleles of the same locus, meaning they do not correspond to one another.

Memory Tip

Think of 'non-' meaning 'not' and 'allelic' relating to genes that are 'of one another'. So, nonallelic means genes that are not corresponding to each other.

Visually Confused Words