dauermodification

From German Dauer + English modification.

dauermodification (plural dauermodifications)

1. The persistence of an abnormal characteristic – generally an environmentally induced trait – over several generations of the organism. Such characteristics are inherited through the cytoplasm and tend to disappear after a few generations.
   • 1979 April 12, J. C. Sanford and R. E. Hanneman, “Reciprocal differences in the photoperiod reaction of hybrid populations in Solanum tuberosum”, in American Journal of Potato Research‎:

     Cytoplasmic inheritance or dauermodification are considered the most likely explanations for this difference in photoperiod reaction.

• “dauermodification” in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.