title: Heritability estimates for somatic traits determined perinatally with the twin method.
abstract: The aim of this study was to establish estimates for heritability of somatic traits determined perinatally with the twin method. The studied material, including 1263 twin pairs live-born at various stages of prenatal life, i.e. between the 22nd and 41st week of gestation, was collected at the Department of Perinatology and Gynecology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, between 2002 and 2009. The zygosity of 821 pairs of same-sex twins was determined at the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics in Poznań using analysis of single and multiple nucleotide polymorphisms. The proportion of phenotypic variance explained by genetic variability was determined using heritability indices based on intrapair variances and correlations. Analysis of these indices revealed that genetic variability predominated over environmental variability in determining the phenotypic variance of all studied traits. Heritability was the highest for body weight and shoulder width. The high values of heritability coefficients documented in our study were to a certain extent associated with an inconsistency of the assumption on the additive effect of genetic and environmental effects. While analyzing the phenotypic variance of a trait, the role of genotype-environment interactions and covariance cannot be ignored, as these are their effects which increase the genetic variance and related coefficients of heritability. Therefore, it can be concluded that the genotypic component of the phenotypic variance of the trait is enhanced by the effects of various environmental factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Anatomy, University School of Physical Education in Poznań, Królowej Jadwigi 27/39, 61-871 Poznań, Poland. Electronic address: malwasz@interia.pl.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Waszak
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Anatomy, University School of Physical Education in Poznań, Królowej Jadwigi 27/39, 61-871 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Krystyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cieślik
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Strzeszyńska 32, 60-479 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Marzena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skrzypczak-Zielińska
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Strzeszyńska 32, 60-479 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Marlena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szalata
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Institute of Natural Fibres and Medicinal Plants, Wojska Polskiego 71b, 60-630 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wielgus
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology and Gynecology in Poznań, University of Medical Sciences, Polna 33, 60-535 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kempiak
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology and Gynecology in Poznań, University of Medical Sciences, Polna 33, 60-535 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bręborowicz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Strzeszyńska 32, 60-479 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Ryszard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Słomski
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height / Q000235:genetics; D049628:Body Size / Q000235:genetics; D001835:Body Weight / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006257:Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011044:Poland; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012782:Shoulder / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics*; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics*