Tachycardia: an autosomal, monogenic, biallelic, recessive trait

A brief commentary of the genetics of blood pressure is presented. The impo rtance of the mechanisms of blood pressure regulation, among which heart ra te is relevant, is emphasized. The analysis of a small population to test t he quantitative model of the trait heart rate, considered as a metric chara cter, is presented. The analysis of heart rate fitting to a qualitative mod el of inheritance is carried out. The results displayed might support the h ypothesis that tachycardia could be an autosomal, monogenic, biallelic rece ssive trait. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.