A forensic population database of autosomal STR and X-STR markers in the Qiang ethnic minority of China

Zefei Wang; Mengyuan Song; Qiang Lyu; Jun Ying; Qian Wu; Feng Song; Lanrui Jiang; Xiaowen Wei; Shuangshuang Wang; Fei Wang; Yuxiang Zhou; Xingbo Song; Haibo Luo

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21823

A forensic population database of autosomal STR and X-STR markers in the Qiang ethnic minority of China

Heliyon. 2023 Nov 7;9(11):e21823. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21823. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Authors

Zefei Wang¹, Mengyuan Song², Qiang Lyu³, Jun Ying⁴, Qian Wu⁵, Feng Song¹, Lanrui Jiang¹, Xiaowen Wei¹, Shuangshuang Wang¹, Fei Wang¹, Yuxiang Zhou¹, Xingbo Song², Haibo Luo¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Forensic Genetics, West China School of Basic Medical Sciences & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
² Department of Laboratory Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
³ Department of Clinical Laboratory, People's Hospital of Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, Beichuan, 622750, China.
⁴ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Santai People's Hospital, Santai, 621100, China.
⁵ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China.

Abstract

The Qiang ethnic group is one of the oldest ethnic groups in China and is the most active ethnic group among all the populations along the Tibetan-Yi corridor. They have had a profound impact nationally and internationally. The paternal and maternal genetic feature of the Qiang ethnic group has been revealed, leaving the question of the genetic characteristics from autosomes and X chromosome not answered. The aim of this study was to explore the potential of 36 A-STR (Microreader™ 36A ID System) and 19 X-STR (Microreader™ 19X System) for application in the Qiang population and to elucidate their genetic diversity in southwest China. The cumulative probability of exclusion (CPE) for autosomal STRs is 1-1.3814 × 10^-15 and the mean paternity exclusion chance (MEC) for X-STRs is 1-1.7323 × 10^-6. Forensic parameters suggest that the STRs analyzed here are well-suited for forensic applications. The results of phylogenetic, interpopulation differentiation, and principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) indicate that the Qiang people have extensive connections with ethnic minorities in China, supporting the view that the Qiang people are the oldest group in the entire Sino-Tibetan language family. The Qiang appeared genetically more associated with most ethnic groups in China, especially the Han. The calculation of random matching probability (RMP) was improved by F_st correction of allele frequencies to make RMP more accurate and reasonable. This study can fill in the gaps in the Qiang STR reference database, providing valuable frequency data for forensic applications and evidence for the Qiang's genetic pattern as an important ancestral position in the Sino-Tibetan populations.

Keywords: Allele frequency; Autosomal chromosome; Interpopulation studies; Population genetics; Short tandem repeat; X chromosome.