| Genetic compensation (genetic buffering) |
A broad phenomenon that encompasses diverse changes in gene expression and/or variability in genetic background, which phenotypically compensate for loss-of-function genotypes by versatile mechanisms: via upregulation of gene paralogs, via action of genetic modifiers, or complex responses within functional gene networks |
| Transcriptional adaptation |
Changes in RNA levels that result from a genetic mutation and not from the loss of gene function, mechanistically driven by nonsense-mediated decay[19] |
| Genetic modifier |
A genetic allele, which does not possess sequence homology with the loss-of-function gene, and is able to provide phenotypic compensation within a loss-of-function genotype by serving compensatory roles towards the same biological process, not necessarily as a response to a deleterious mutation |
