Aim: To determine allele distribution and genetic parameters for two populations living in the Romanian region of Transylvania: Hungarians from Cluj and Szeklers from Covasna county, and to compare the results between the two populations and with other Hungarian and Romanian populations.
Methods: Allele frequencies for 15 autosomal STR loci (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, VWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818, and FGA), several forensic parameters, and paternity parameters were determined for Szekler Hungarians of Covasna county (CV-Sze, n=278) and non-Szekler Transylvanian Hungarians, who were represented by Hungarians from Cluj county (CJ-Hu, n=146).
Results: Average expected heterozygosity was above 70%. The combined power of discrimination and combined power of exclusion values were high. All tested loci were in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, with the exception of the CSF1PO locus for Covasna county. Pairwise population comparison tests and exact population differentiation tests showed no significant differences between the CJ-Hu and CV-Sze populations, and the CV-Sze group showed greater differences from other Romanian populations than did the CJ-Hu group.
Conclusion: Hungarians from Cluj show greater genetic heterogeneity than Szeklers from Covasna. The loci tested are suitable for studying micro-differentiation between these two populations, and between these populations and other populations in Hungary and Romania.