noun

• An individual having two different alleles of a particular gene or genes, and so giving rise to varying offspring.

  Compare with homozygote

  ‘In a population with variation on both sex chromosomes, one does not know which sex chromosome carries a specific allele in a heterozygote of the heterogametic sex.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘In the case of heterozygotes, one allele was randomly selected for each individual.’
  • ‘Homozygotes and heterozygotes at individual sites were distinguished by their chromatographic patterns.’
  • ‘For example, in inbred populations there may be very few heterozygotes but several different homozygotes.’
  • ‘The individual tested was a heterozygote, necessarily possessing a copy of each allele.’