King George III of England and other members of the royal family were afflicted with a series of strange, seemingly unrelated symptoms including abdominal pain, rapid pulse, convulsions, and insanity. It has been determined that he likely suffered from porphyria, caused by a mutation in a single allele. What is the genetic term describing the alteration of multiple, distinct traits of an organism by a mutation in a single gene?
A) incomplete dominance
B) pleiotropy
C) epistasis
D) codominance
E) incomplete penetrance

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Pleiotropy refers to the phenomenon where a single gene influences multiple phenotypic traits, which explains the variety of symptoms experienced by King George III from a mutation in just one gene.

King George III of England and Other Members of the Royal