Purpose: China harbors 56 ethnic groups and Han accounts for >92% of the total Chinese population. We investigated the frequencies of 15 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci in the Han population of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture with the aim of expanding the available population information in human genetics databases and for forensic DNA analysis.
Subjects and methods: We explored the genetic characteristics of 15 autosomal STR loci in 552 unrelated Chinese Han individuals from Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Northwestern China using the AmpFISTR Identifiler PCR Amplification Kit. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis was performed between the Han population and other relevant populations based on the autosomal STR genotyping. The neighbor-joining tree and principle component analysis were generated based on the Nei's standard genetic distance and allelic frequencies, respectively.
Results: A total of 171 alleles were observed among 552 unrelated individuals and allelic frequencies ranged from 0.5145 to 0.0009. The combined power of discrimination and combined power of exclusion of the 15 autosomal STR loci were 0.9999999999999999964 and 0.999998243616671, respectively.
Conclusions: Population comparison revealed that the Ili Han population were lining up together with other Han populations in China while showing significant differences from other Chinese and worldwide populations.
Keywords: Han population; autosomal STR; forensic medicine; population genetics.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/University College London.