Dominant gene symbols

[Daphne Preuss]

Dear Netters:

Yet another problem with using a separate symbol for dominance is that the
dominant nature of a phenotype can change with the assay conditions.  A
classic example is sickle-cell anemia:  The trait is recessive at 1 atm,
dominant at low atmospheric pressure, and, if the phenotype is measured at the
protein level, the trait is co-dominant.  Because of this sort of variation,
the same allelic symbol should be used whether or not a particular experiment
indicates dominance.

Daphne Preuss
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