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Allele frequencies and forensic statistical parameters for 12 STRs contained in the Investigator HDplex Kit (D2S1360, D3S1744, D4S2366, D5S2500, SE33, D6S474, D7S1517, D8S1132, D10S2325, D12S391, D18S51, and D21S2055) were estimated from a sample of 503 unrelated individuals from the Guangdong Han population of South China. No significant departure from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or genetic linkage disequilibrium was observed (after Bonferroni correction). The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.6411 to 0.9414. The allele frequencies in Guangdong Han significantly differed from that in Shanghai Han, Korea, Northern Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Somalia, and Argentinean populations at 2 to 12 loci. The markers included in the kit have highly polymorphic information that could be used for forensic DNA analysis as potential tools for differentiating Han population from other populations in the world.

Mutation analysis of 42 Y chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) loci was performed using a sample of 1160 father–son pairs from the Chinese Han population in Eastern China. The results showed that the average mutation rate across the 42 Y-STR loci was 0.0041 (95% CI 0.0036–0.0047) per locus per generation. The locus-specific mutation rates varied from 0.000 to 0.0190. No mutation was found at DYS388, DYS437, DYS448, DYS531, and GATA_H4. DYS627, DYS570, DYS576, and DYS449 could be classified as rapidly mutating Y-STRs, with mutation rates higher than 1.0 × 10−2. DYS458, DYS630, and DYS518 were moderately mutating Y-STRs, with mutation rates ranging from 8 × 10−3 to 1 × 10−2. Although the characteristics of the Y-STR mutations were consistent with those in previous studies, mutation rate differences between our data and previous published data were found at some rapidly mutating Y-STRs. The single-copy loci located on the short arm of the Y chromosome (Yp) showed relatively higher mutation rates more frequently than the multi-copy loci. These results will not only extend the data for Y-STR mutations but also be important for kinship analysis, paternal lineage identification, and family relationship reconstruction in forensic Y-STR analysis.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate allelic association and linkage of 18 adjacent syntenic short tandem repeat (STR) pairs form out of 30 markers located on 12 different autosomes. Linkage disequilibrium was tested by using the unknown gametic phase genotypes and phased haplotypes from 290 unrelated individuals from Chinese Han population. Genetic linkage analysis between syntenic STRs was performed based on 145 two-generation families which involved 628 meioses. The results showed no significant linkage disequilibrium at any STR pairs and independent inheritance between syntenic STR pairs was indicated. Significant linkage (maximum logarithm of odd (LOD) scores >3.0) was found in 6 out of the 18 adjacent syntenic STR pairs (D1S1627-D1S1677, CSF1PO-D5S818, D6S1017-D6S1043, D6S1043-D6S474, D12S391-vWA, and D19S253-D19S433). These significant linkage marker pairs had a genetic distance ranged from 11.94 to 41.33 cM deduced from HapMap. When recombination fractions determined in families were compared to those derived from Kosambi mapping function based on HapMap data, the latter may have an overestimation. In summary, our results demonstrated that product rule included syntenic STRs can be used for unrelated individual profile probability and the recombination fraction based on family data was superior to the estimation from HapMap for kinship analysis.

Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis is a primary tool in forensic casework. Population data and mutation rates of STRs are very important for paternity testing and forensic genetics. However, the population data and mutation rates of STRs in Han nationality based on large samples have still not been fully described in China. In this study, the allelic frequencies, forensic parameters, and mutation rate of 19 STR loci (D19S433, D5S818, D21S11, D18S51, D6S1043, D3S1358, D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, CSFIPO, PentaD, vWA, D8S1179, TPOX, Penta E, TH01, D12S391, D2S1338, and FGA) based on the Goldeneye™ DNA ID System 20A in Southern China Han nationality among seven provinces were investigated. Furthermore, population stratification of Southern China Han nationality among seven provinces was established. The multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot based on genetic distances (Fst) showed that the studied populations can be clustered into two major groups. However, relationships among populations were weak (Fst

To develop a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system with 12 X-chromosomal short-tandem repeat (X-STR) loci and to investigate their polymorphism and linkage and/or independence, the 12 loci (DXS6807, DXS8378, DXS9902, DXS6800, DXS6803, DXS6799, DXS6804, GATA172D05, DXS6854, HPRTB, DXS8377, and DXS7423) were simultaneously analyzed in 1,005 unrelated individuals (574 males and 431 females) from Guangdong Han individuals and Kazakh populations living in China. The allele frequencies and mutation rates were investigated. Allele frequency distribution among different populations was compared. Haplotypes of linkage disequilibrium markers (DXS6807-DXS8378-DXS9902) and linked markers (DXS6804-GATA172D05 and DXS8377-DXS7423) were also reported. A total of 117 alleles, ranging from five to 20 for each locus, were observed in our selected populations. Eight cases with mutation of the selected loci were detected in 9,480 meioses. Pairwise comparisons of allele frequencies distribution showed statistically significant differences at most loci among different populations. Haplotype diversity of linked markers was 0.9404-0.9694. The results indicated that this multiplex system is very useful for forensic analysis and may be complementarities for X-12 kits or X-8 kits in forensic case.

Germline mutations of 24 short tandem repeat (STR) loci (TPOX, D3S1358, FGA, D5S818, CSF1PO, D7S820, D8S1179, TH01, vWA, D13S317, Penta E, D16S539, D18S51, Penta D, D21S11, D2S1772, D6S1043, D7S3048, D8S1132, D11S2368, D12S391, D13S325, D18S1364, and GATA198B05) were studied for 6,441 parent-child meioses taken from the paternity testing cases in Chinese Han population. In total, 195 mutations were identified at 22 of the 24 loci. Among them, 189 (96.92%) mutations were one step, five mutations (2.56%) were two step, and one mutation (0.51%) was three step. No mutation was found at the TH01 and TPOX loci. The overall mutation rate estimated was 0.0013 (95% CI 0.0011-0.0015), and the locus-specific mutation rate estimated ranged from 0 to 0.0034. There was a bias in the STR mutations that repeat gains were more common than losses (∼1.7:1). Mutation events in the male germline were more frequent than in the female germline (∼4.3:1). Furthermore, loci with a larger heterozygosity tended to have a higher mutation rate. Mutation in short alleles was biased towards expansion, whereas mutation in long alleles favored contraction. The long alleles have a higher allelic mutational probability than short alleles.

This study is to develop a new multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system that simultaneously amplifies the nine X-chromosome short tandem repeats loci in the same PCR reaction, and to explore their polymorphism and mutation rate among three nationality populations from China. These loci included DXS6854, DXS9902, DXS6809, GATA172D05, HPRTB, DXS7423, DXS6807, DXS8378, and DXS8377. The samples of 890 (484 males and 406 females) unrelated individuals from Guangdong Han population, Xinjiang Uigur, and Inner-Mongolia Mongol were successfully analyzed using this multiplex system. The allele frequencies and mutation rates of the nine loci were investigated, and the comparison of allele frequency distribution among different populations was performed. There were 87 alleles for all the loci, and six to 18 alleles for each locus observed by our new multiplex PCR system. Polymorphism information content was 0.4998–0.9101, and power of discrimination in females was 0.6518–0.9846. Five cases with mutation of above loci were detected in 5,310 meioses. Pair-wise comparisons of allele frequencies distribution showed significant differences for most loci among different populations. Our results indicate that this multiplex system is very useful for identification analysis, and that the information about polymorphism and mutation rate is necessary for forensic application in three nationality populations from China.

Nine non-combined DNA index system tetranucleotide short tandem repeat (STR) loci D2S1772, D6S1043, D7S3048, D8S1132, D11S2368, D12S391, D13S325, D18S1364, and GATA198B05 were amplified in a multiplex polymerase chain reaction system. The distribution of alleles of the nine STRs was reported from a Chinese Han population in Guangdong Province, Southern China. The combined power of exclusion in trios and duos for the nine loci was 0.999981 and 0.999025, respectively. Mutation rates range from 0 to 0.005618. Pairwise analysis of linkage disequilibrium, which included PowerPlex 16 System loci, did show statistically significant deviation from independence even though loci locate on the same chromosomes. The nine STRs are highly informative and suitable to extend the results obtained with other STRs commonly analyzed for difficult paternity and kinship analysis.

We investigated the polymorphism of five X-chromosomal short tandem repeat markers (ChrX STRs) loci (DXS7132, DXS981, DXS6803, DXS6809, and DXS6789) and their value for forensic applications. A fluorescent multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for amplifying five ChrX STRs loci in the same PCR reaction was set up. A total of 827 unrelated individuals of the Han nationality in China were tested. The results show that the five loci in the multiplex system provide high polymorphism information for forensic identification and paternity testing, particularly for difficult paternity-deficient cases.

Genetic variations of the 17 NGM SElect STR loci in Chinese Han samples from the Zhejiang region were analyzed. The results show that the NGM SElect is a highly genetic informative system in Zhejiang Han, and this population shows quite different genetic data from other major populations in the world with the exception of the Fujian Han.