The mode of inheritance of the number of segments with toe and digital hair in Korean
populations was analysed in a sample of 2585 individuals comprising of 1235 males and
1350 females including 648 sons and 720 daughters in 422 families.
The mean of the number of segments with toe hair for males was 4.18±1.62, while that
for females was 3.97±1.67. The difference between these means was significant. The
frequency distribution was somewhat negatively skewed in both sexes. The parent-child
correlation coefficient was 0.45 ± 0.02 and that for the midparent-child was 0.65 ±
0.02, while the interparental correlation was 0.03 ± 0.05. The sib-sib correlation was
calculated to be 0.46 ± 0.03 for a sample of 395 pairs. There was neither any indication
of X-linked nor Y-linked influence form the combination of father-son, father-daughter,
mother-son and mother-daughter, as well as no maternal effect from the test between
father-child and mother-child correlation. The regressions of child on midparent was
0.80 ± 0.03, and a linearity test did not indicate any sign of dominance, although the
dominant variance was to be 0.04. The heritability was measured to be about 0.80-0.94.
Therefore, it may be conclude that this character is controlled by a polygenic system
with almost complete additive effects.
In the case of digital hair, the results showed that the parent-child correlation was 0.41
± 0.02 and that for the midparent-child was 0.59 ± 0.025, while the interparental
correlation was 0.01 ± 0.05. The sib-sib correlation was found to be 0.43 ± 0.04 from
variance analysis for sibships. Also there was neither any indication of sex-linked
inheritance nor of maternal effects. The regression of child on midparent was 0.71 ±
0.03. A linearity test did not reveal any sign of dominance, but dominant variance was
calculated to be 0.09. The heritability for digital hair was lower than that of the toe
hair, appearing to be 0.7-0.9. Thus, the mode of inheritance of digital hair was found to
be similar to that of the toe hair.
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