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Definition

noun, plural: gooseberries

(botany)
(1) The spiny shrub of the genus Ribes, of the family Grossulariaceae, and of class Magnoliopsida, characterized for its lobed leaves, greenish flowers, and edible greenish to yellow or red berries

(2) The edible, globular, sometimes spiny fruit of this shrub.

(genetics) One of the segment polarity genes activated by the products of pair-rule genes, and whose products are involved in defining the polarity within each segment of the Drosophila embryo.

Supplement

In botany, the gooseberry is a straggling bush growing to about three to ten feet tall. Its fruit is edible, generally hairy, and usually green in colour, but occasionally deep purple berries occur. Its binomial name is Ribes uva-crispa.

In genetics, the gooseberry is one of the segment polarity genes involved in the segmentation in the Drosophila embryo. A mutation in this gene can result in the anterior portion of each segment missing in the fruit fly larva.

Word origin: Dutch word Kruisbezie or the allied German Krausbeere, or of the earlier forms of the French groseille. Alternatively the word has been connected to the Middle High German krus (curl, crisped), in Latin as grossularia, and in Indian languages such as amla (Hindi) or amalaka (Sanskrit).

Related terms:

• Chinese gooseberry
• Barbados gooseberry
• Cape gooseberry
• Indian gooseberry
• Jamaican gooseberry
• Otaheite gooseberry
• Star gooseberry (shrub)