Forensic-paternity effectiveness and genetics population analysis of six non-CODIS mini-STR loci (D1S1656, D2S441, D6S1043, D10S1248, D12S391, D22S1045) and SE33 in Mestizo and Amerindian populations from Mexico

Abstract

Background: STRs are powerful tools intensively used in forensic and kinship studies.

Aim: In order to assess the effectiveness of non-CODIS genetic markers in forensic and paternity tests, the genetic composition of six mini short tandem repeats—mini-STRs—(D1S1656, D2S441, D6S1043, D10S1248, D12S391, D22S1045) and the microsatellite SE33 in Mestizo and Amerindian populations from Mexico were studied.

Subjects and methods: Using multiplex polymerase chain reactions and capillary electrophoresis, this study genotyped all loci from 870 chromosomes and evaluated the statistical genetic parameters.

Results: All mini-STRs studied were in agreement with HW and linkage equilibrium; however, an important HW departure for SE33 was found in the Mestizo population (p ≤ 0.0001). Regarding paternity and forensic statistical parameters, high values of combined power discrimination and mean power of exclusion were found using these seven markers. The principal co-ordinate analysis based on allele frequencies of three mini-STRs showed the complex genetic architecture of the Mestizo population.

Conclusion: The results indicate that this set of loci is suitable to genetically identify individuals in the Mexican population, supporting its effectiveness in human identification casework. In addition, these findings add new statistical values and emphasise the importance of the use of non-CODIS markers in complex populations in order to avoid erroneous assumptions.

Keywords:

• Forensic sciences
• Mexican population
• native American populations
• population genetics

Acknowledgements

We thank BIMODI laboratory and co-workers for helping in the logistics of sample collection and processing. We are grateful to all the Amerindian people for their enthusiastic participation; their collaboration made this study possible. We also thank Laboratorio de Genómica, Proteómica y Metabolómica from LaNSE-Cinvestav for helping with the genotyping processes as well as Laboratorios de Especialidades Inmunológicas S.A. de C.V., mainly Laura Padierna Mota, PhD, for her contribution in some molecular reagents. We thank Conacyt for Scholarship 474520 granted to Nelsi Alejandra Burguete-Argueta during her Master’s in Sciences. Finally, we wish to thank the journal’s anonymous reviewers for their very useful commentaries and suggestions in the writing of this paper.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Funding information

This study was partially supported by the Kellogg’s Nutritional Institute from Mexico (to R.G.) and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Conacyt) project number 212650 (to ELB).

ORCID detail

Rafael Camacho-Mejorado http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6896-5912