Purpose: To estimate the magnitude of genetic correlations among five general textural characteristics of the human iris.
Methods: Color photographs of iris were available from 100 monozygotic and 99 dizygotic twin pairs. Comparative scales were constructed based on ratings of the subjects' left iris. To explore the genetic and environmental covariation among frequency of Fuchs' crypts, frequency of pigment dots, iris color, the extension, and distinction of Wolfflin nodules, and contraction furrows, a structural equation model with Cholesky decomposition was applied to variance-covariance matrices for monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) pairs.
Results: Significant genetic correlations fell between -0.22 and 0.44 and accounted almost entirely for the phenotypic correlations among the iris characteristics. No evidence for individual specific environmental effects in common to the characteristics was found.
Conclusions: The modest genetic correlations indicate that there is little overlap in the genetic influence for these characteristics. Candidate genes with embryological and histological expression patterns in the eye could potentially influence the iris characteristics' variability.