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Background: In view of their high level of variability, autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) are very useful as markers in the disciplines of forensic and population genetics studies. Aim: To investigate the diversity distributions of allelic frequencies of 15 loci from a sample from the Chinese Xibe ethnic group in Liaoning. Subjects and methods: Fifteen STR loci for 150 unrelated Xibe individuals from Liaoning, China were amplified simultaneously in a fluorescence-based reaction using a 2720 Thermal cycler (ABI). Separation and detection of the amplified product were conducted with the Li-COR 4300 DNA Analyzer. Results: In total, 117 alleles were observed, with the corresponding allele frequencies ranging from 0.001 to 0.507. D18S51 had the highest polymorphism (PIC = 0.840) among all 15 STR loci, whereas TPOX had the lowest (PIC = 0.590). The power of discrimination ranged from 0.801 for TH01 locus to 0.957 for D18S51 locus, whereas the power of exclusion ranged from a minimum 0.316 for TPOX locus to a maximum 0.720 for D21S11 locus. The phylogenetic tree established among worldwide populations showed that the Xibe population is far from other populations. Conclusion: Databases for the 15 STR loci will be useful for personal identification and paternity tests in the Xibe population and for the establishment of phylogenetic relationships between populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]