What is a pattern inheritance?

Patterns of Inheritance. Patterns of Inheritance. The phenotype of an individual is determined by his or her genotype. The genotype is determined by alleles that are received from the individual's parents (one from Mom and one from Dad). These alleles control if a trait is "dominant" or "recessive".

In general, inheritance patterns for single gene disorders are classified based on whether they are autosomal or X-linked and whether they have a dominant or recessive pattern of inheritance. These disorders are called Mendelian disorders, after the geneticist Gregor Mendel.