What is a genotype?

A genotype refers specifically to the genetic constitution of an organism in relation to a particular trait or traits. It encompasses the alleles present at specific loci within an organism's DNA, which ultimately determine the potential characteristics that can be expressed. For example, if you consider a trait like flower color in pea plants, the genotype would detail the specific alleles that the plant possesses for that trait, regardless of whether those alleles are dominant or recessive.

Understanding the genotype is fundamental in fields such as genetics and breeding because it helps predict how traits may manifest in offspring when paired with different genotypes from another parent. This is in contrast to the phenotype, which is the observable expression of those traits influenced both by the genotype and environmental factors.