What term refers to the genetic makeup of an organism?

The term that refers to the genetic makeup of an organism is genotype. The genotype encompasses all the genes that an organism carries, which determines the potential traits and characteristics it may express. For instance, in a plant, the genotype would include the specific alleles inherited from its parents, influencing traits like flower color, height, or disease resistance. The genotype provides the foundational genetic information that interacts with environmental factors to produce the observable traits, known as the phenotype.

Phenotype refers to the physical expression of traits, which is a result of the genotype interacting with environmental influences. Chromosomes are structures within the cell that carry genetic information, but they do not describe the genetic makeup itself. Alleles are variants of a gene and contribute to the genotype, but they do not encompass the entirety of an organism's genetic makeup. Thus, genotype is the most accurate term for describing the complete genetic composition of an organism.