In biology, polymorphism can be defined as "the occurrence in the same habitat of two or more forms of a trait in such frequencies that the rarer cannot be maintained by recurrent mutation alone." E.B. Ford, 1940. The different forms are called morphs (or phases). Main articles: Life The most salient example of biological universality is that all living things share a common carbon-based biochemistry and in particular pass on their characteristics via genetic material, which is based on nucleic acids such as DNA and which uses a common genetic code with only minor... In biology, a trait or character is a genetically inherited feature of an organism. ... In biology, mutations are permanent, sometimes transmissible (if the change is to a germ cell) changes to the genetic material (usually DNA or RNA) of a cell. ... This article is about the British ecological geneticist E.B. Henry Ford. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Examples

In some cases of polymorphism, the different morphs are distinct. An example from botany is heterostyly, in which flowers occur in different forms having different arrangements of the pistil and the stamens. For instance, some cowslip plants (Primula veris) have "pin flowers", in which the style (the stalk of the pistil) reaches the end of the corolla tube and the stamens extend only halfway up the tube and thus are hidden. Other cowslip plants have "thrum flowers", in which the stamens reach the end of the corolla tube and the style is hidden inside. Also, thrum flowers produce bigger pollen grains than pin flowers. This polymorphism prevents inbreeding. Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ... Pin flower of English primrose Thrum flower of English primrose Self-incompatibility is one strategy that evolved with the flowering plants to maintain genetic diversity in a species population and avoid inbreeding. ... California Poppies in flower Flower (Latin flos, floris; French fleur), a term popularly used for the bloom or blossom of a plant, is the reproductive structure of those plants classified as angiosperms (flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta). ... California Poppies in flower Flower (Latin flos, floris; French fleur), a term popularly used for the bloom or blossom of a plant, is the reproductive structure of those plants classified as angiosperms (flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta). ... Binomial name Primula veris L. Primula veris, commonly known as the Cowslip, is a low growing perennial herbaceous flowering plant with yellow flowers, in the genus Primula. ... California Poppies in flower Flower (Latin flos, floris; French fleur), a term popularly used for the bloom or blossom of a plant, is the reproductive structure of those plants classified as angiosperms (flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta). ... California Poppies in flower Flower (Latin flos, floris; French fleur), a term popularly used for the bloom or blossom of a plant, is the reproductive structure of those plants classified as angiosperms (flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta). ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomea purpurea), hollyhock (Sildalcea malviflora), lily (Lilium auratum), primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... Inbreeding is breeding between close relatives. ...

In other cases of polymorphism, there is continuous variation. For instance, normal human hair color, even within the single "habitat" of northern Europe, ranges continuously from black through reddish and brownish shades to nearly white. Little is known about any adaptive value of this polymorphism. Human beings have many variations in hair color and texture. ... Northern Europe is marked in dark blue Northern Europe is a name of the northern part of the European continent. ...

Another example of a polymorphic species is the Scarlet tiger moth. Binomial name Callimorpha dominula Linnaeus, 1758 The Scarlet Tiger Moth Nomenclature Common Names The Scarlet Tiger Moth. ...

Still other polymorphisms are variations in an organism's DNA sequence that do not affect its phenotype. Examples include single-nucleotide polymorphisms|SNP|SNPs (SNPs) and restriction-fragment-length polymorphisms. Space-filling model of a section of DNA molecule Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions specifying the biological development of all cellular forms of life (and most viruses). ... The phenotype of an individual organism is either its total physical appearance and constitution, or a specific manifestation of a trait, such as size or eye color, that varies between individuals. ... A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism or SNP (pronounced snip) is a DNA sequence variation, occurring when a single nucleotide: adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) or guanine (G) - in the genome is altered. ... In molecular biology, the term restriction fragment length polymorphism (or RFLP) is used in two related contexts: as a characteristic of DNA molecules (arising from their differing nucleotide sequences) by which they may be distinguished, and as the laboratory technique which uses this characteristic to compare DNA molecules. ...

External link

Heterostyly in the Cowslip (Primula veris L.)