Multiple genetic analyses for Chinese Hunan Han population via 46 A-STRs

Abstract

Background

Short tandem repeats (STRs) are important as common genetic markers in forensic identification and population genetics due to their highly polymorphic nature.

Aims

To explore genetic polymorphisms of the Chinese Hunan Han population and further dissect genetic relationships among the Hunan Han and other populations from China.

Subjects and methods

In this study, samples of 394 unrelated healthy individuals from the Chinese Hunan Han population were analysed using 46 autosomal-STRs (A-STRs). Thirteen previously reported populations (6378 individuals) from China were subsequently collected for population genetic analyses based on 23 shared A-STRs.

Results

In the Hunan Han population, a total of 452 alleles were detected in 46 A-STRs with allelic frequencies spanning from 0.0013 to 0.5571. Except for the Penta D locus in linkage disequilibrium, the combined power of discrimination and the combined power of exclusion for 45 A-STRs in the Hunan Han population were 0.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999510314 and 0.999999999999999726596, respectively. Results of interpopulation differentiation, principal component analysis, and phylogenetic relationship analyses uniformly showed that the Hunan Han have closer genetic affinities with Han populations from different Chinese regions and a geographically close ethnic minority group, namely the Hubei Tujia.

Conclusion

To summarise, these 46 A-STRs showed high polymorphism in the Chinese Hunan Han population for forensic practice.

Keywords:

• Short tandem repeat
• CODIS
• non-CODIS
• Chinese Hunan Han population
• forensic genetics

Acknowledgements

We appreciated all the contributors who assisted in collecting blood samples.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interests were reported by all authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant [number 81772031].