This study examined the allele frequency of six miniSTR loci - D1S1677, D2S441, D4S2364, D10S1248, D14S1434, and D22S1045 - in three Singapore populations (Chinese, Malay, and Indian).
MiniSTR loci have proven to be effective in recovering genetic information from degraded samples due to the improved PCR efficiency of their reduced PCR product sizes. The allele distribution of all six miniSTR loci proved that they are equally polymorphic in all three Singapore populations. In addition, their heterozygosity values are comparable to other world populations. The observed heterozygosity ranges from 0.600 to 0.816, 0.610 to 0.758, and 0.640 to 0.764 for Chinese, Malay, and Indian, respectively. D4S2364 is the least polymorphic markers; however, it still achieved a heterozygosity of greater than 0.6. The combined random match probability (RMP) of the six miniSTR were calculated to be 4.6 x 10 to the minus 6 power, 3.5 x 10 to the minus six power, and 4.2 x 10 to the minus six power, and the combined power of exclusion was 97.77 percent, 96.68 percent, and 97.55 percent for Chinese, Malay, and Indian, respectively. The locus D2S441 showed the most significant differentiation for all three population pairs, and D1S1677 is not significant for all. The Chinese-Malay pair has no significant differentiation for all markers except D2S441. Venous blood was obtained from randomly selected Singapore Armed Forces personnel composed of 185 Chinese, 182 Malay, and 178 Indian individuals. 4 tables and 7 references