Updated by: Arabinda Naik
In heterozygous condition, the allele which expresses itself even in the presence of another allele is called a dominant allele. A dominant allele is denoted by the capital letter of the initial alphabet of its corresponding dominant trait, for e.g., the dominant allele for the dominant trait tall is written as T. Allele refers to variants of the same gene that occur on the same chromosome. An allele is said to be dominant as they override or mask the effect of other variants available for the same gene. If both the alleles are the same, they are said to be homozygous, and the character is expressed. If the alleles are different, then only the dominant gene is expressed and the recessive gene is suppressed.