allopolyploid /al′əpol″iploid/ [Gk, allos + polyplous, many times, eidos, form] , 1. an individual, an organism, a strain, or a cell that has more than two genetically distinct sets of chromosomes derived from two or more different ancestral species, as occurs in hybridization. Such individuals are referred to as allotriploid, allotetraploid, allopentaploid, allohexaploid, and so on, depending on the number of haploid sets of chromosomes they contain. Compare allodiploid, def. 1, autodiploid. See also mosaic. 2. n, also pertaining to such an individual, organism, strain, or cell. Also called autopolyploid.
