title: Morphogenetic variability and handedness in Montenegro and Serbia.
abstract: This study tries to establish correlations between the types of handedness and several morpho-physiological characteristics, controlled by one or a small number of genes with alternative dominant recessive manifestation. The population-genetic homozygosity degree study includes the analysis of the presence, distribution and individual traits combination in left-handed and right-handed persons. It was conducted at three localities in two states, Serbia (SRB) and Montenegro (MNE). Our hypothesis is that a possible genetic load due to increased recessive homozygosity, being a potential population-genetic parameter of left-handedness manifestation, may cause some change in other morpho-physiological characters. The average proportion of 23 studied homozygously-recessive characters (HRC's) was similar among observed left-handed individuals in the studied localities. It varied from 10.5 +/- 0.4 in Serbia to 10.7 +/- 0.3 in MNE. The differences were somewhat bigger among right-handed persons, varying from 8.7 +/- 0.3 in MNE to 9.1 +/- 0.3 HRC's in Serbia. However, in all localities the average homozygosity was significantly higher among left-handed school children. The number of HRC's among 400 individuals varied from 2 to 16 among right-handed and from 4 to 19 among left-handed persons. There were no differences in scholar scores between left-handed and right-handed children, although small differences were found between two state samples.
authors.affiliation: Bureau for Education Services, Section for Biology and Human Genetics, Podgorica 81000, Montenegro. blazenkap@t-com.me
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Petricevic
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cvjeticanin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000235:genetics*; D005808:Genes, Recessive; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D054548:Montenegro; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D055771:Serbia; D055815:Young Adult