About   Help   FAQ
Glossary Term
Glossary Term Gene
Definition The basic unit of heredity; a portion of DNA that (usually) codes for a protein product.
See also Central Dogma.
In MGI, "gene" may be used to refer to any of the following:
  1. A locus in the cytoplasmic or nuclear genome characterized by an altered phenotype or by an effect on an inserted reporter gene, such as a gene trap or enhancer trap.
  2. A locus in the cytoplasmic or nuclear genome that is necessary and sufficient to express the complete complement of functional products derived from a unit of transcription.
  3. A locus in the cytoplasmic or nuclear genome identified by hybridization to a nucleic acid segment derived from a non-mouse species, where the segment used as probe represents some portion of a functional unit of transcription in the cytoplasmic or nuclear genome of the non-mouse species.
  4. An exon-encoding segment of the germ-line nuclear genome located within a region that undergoes somatic rearrangement.
  5. A locus in the cytoplasmic or nuclear genome that is within an intron of (but not, itself, an exon of) a unit of transcription, which gives rise to a functional product upon transcript processing of the host unit. For example, Rnu73a and Rnu73b are contained in introns of Rsp3a.

Contributing Projects:
Mouse Genome Database (MGD), Gene Expression Database (GXD), Mouse Models of Human Cancer database (MMHCdb) (formerly Mouse Tumor Biology (MTB)), Gene Ontology (GO)
Citing These Resources
Funding Information
Warranty Disclaimer, Privacy Notice, Licensing, & Copyright
Send questions and comments to User Support.
last database update
12/17/2024
MGI 6.24
The Jackson Laboratory