AAMC Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems (BB) Full-Length (FL) 2 Practice Test

The term that describes the physical and functional characteristics of an organism is phenotype. The phenotype encompasses all observable traits, including morphology, development, biochemical properties, and behavior, which arise from the interaction of the organism's genotype with the environment.

In contrast, genotype refers specifically to the genetic makeup of an organism, which may not always directly translate into observable traits. Alleles are variants of a gene that may produce different traits in the phenotype, while chromosomes are structures that house DNA and contain many genes. Thus, while genotype, allele, and chromosome are all related to the genetic framework of an organism, phenotype is the term that specifically refers to the outward expression of that genetic information in conjunction with environmental factors.