dosage compensation
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dosage compensation
a mechanism by which the expression of X-linked traits is equalized in males, which have one X chromosome, and females, which have two. In mammals it is accomplished by the inactivation of one of the X chromosomes in the somatic cells of females. See also Lyon hypothesis.
dosage compensation
a genetical mechanism in which ALLELES of a gene automatically regulate the amount of a useful product produced, so that homozygous-dominant GENOTYPES produce the same amount of gene product as heterozygotes. In this way the two genotypes cannot be distinguished. Dosage compensation occurs regularly in female mammals where one X-chromosome in each cell is thought to become inactivated, leading to equal amounts of gene products in males and females. See INACTIVE-X HYPOTHESIS.dosage
1. in pharmaceutical terms is the determination and regulation of the size, frequency and number of doses.
2. genetically speaking refers to the amount of gene product in each cell.
dosage compensation
compensation by random X-inactivation, of the dosage of gene material in the cells of males and females carrying X-linked genes.