Search of heterozygosis in quantitative characters

Abstract

A method is described of searching for heterozygotes in a quantitative character, based on the idea that heterozygotes have more variable children than homozygotes. The variability in a set of sibs is therefore partitioned into components from the mother and father, using a least squares technique; a large component indicates a probably heterozygous parent. The method is tested on dermatoglyphic data.