heterosis
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]heterosis (countable and uncountable, plural heteroses)
- (genetics) The tendency of cross-breeding to produce an animal or plant with a greater hardiness than its parents; hybrid vigour.
- 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 159:
- Hybridisation can also result in heterosis - the scientific term for the production of ʽsuper fit’ hybrid individuals - many examples of which come from agriculture. Heterosis can be thought of as the opposite of inbreeding depression, the phenomenon whereby the offspring of individuals that are genetically too similar - for example, brother and sister - can suffer from debilitating maladies.
Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]hybrid vigour
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