Ecosensitivity and genetic polymorphism of somatic traits in the perinatal development of twins

Publication date: Available online 12 November 2015 Source:HOMO - Journal of Comparative Human Biology Author(s): Małgorzata Waszak, Krystyna Cieślik, Marzena Skrzypczak-Zielińska, Marlena Szalata, Karolina Wielgus, Joanna Kempiak, Grzegorz Bręborowicz, Ryszard Słomski In view of criticism regarding the usefulness of heritability coefficients, the aim of this study was to analyze separately the information on genetic and environmental variability. Such an approach, based on the normalization of trait's variability for its value, is determined by the coefficients of genetic polymorphism (Pg) and ecosensitivity (De). The studied material included 1,263 twin pairs of both sexes (among them 424 pairs of monozygotic twins and 839 pairs of dizygotic twins) born between the 22nd and 41st week of gestation. Variability of six somatic traits was analyzed. The zygosity of same-sex twins was determined based on the polymorphism of DNA from lymphocytes of the umbilical cord blood, obtained at birth. The coefficients of genetic polymorphism and ecosensitivity for analyzed traits of male and female twins born at various months of gestation were calculated. Our study revealed that a contribution of the genetic component predominated over that of the environmental component in determining the phenotypic variability of somatic traits of newborns from twin pregnancies. The genetically determined phenotypic variability in male twins was greater than in the females. The ...
Source: HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: research