∞ generated and posted on 2016.12.23 ∞
Gene variant that results in a lower fitness than one which instead is designated as neutral or beneficial.
| A Deleterious Allele is an allele (gene variant) that has the effect of reducing an organism's Darwinian fitness relative to an allele that is not deleterious (i.e., which could be a neutral allele, more so a beneficial allele, or less so a less deleterious allele). |
See, similarly, deleterious mutation, and even lethal allele. Contrast also with beneficial mutation as well as neutral mutation.