What is the term for a form of a gene?

The term for a form of a gene is "allele." An allele represents one variant of a gene that may produce different traits in an organism. For example, a gene controlling flower color might have one allele for red flowers and another for white flowers.

Alleles are crucial in determining the genetic makeup of an organism and how these traits are expressed in the phenotype, which is the observable characteristics. The genotype refers to the genetic information of an organism, including all alleles for a particular trait. Similarly, traits are the specific characteristics themselves, such as flower color or height, that result from the expression of alleles. Hence, understanding that alleles are distinct forms of a gene helps clarify their role in genetics.