Genetic Structure Among 38 Populations From the United States Based on 11 U.S. Core Y Chromosome STRs

• NCJ Number: 214496
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 51 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2006 Pages: 580-585
• Author(s): Alan J. Redd Ph.D.; Veronica F. Chamberlain B.S.; Veronica F. Kearney B.S.; Daryn Stover Ph.D.; Tatiana Karafet Ph.D.; Karl Calderon; Bruce Walsh Ph.D.; Michael F. Hammer Ph.D.
• Date Published: May 2006
• Length: 6 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2000-IJ-CX-K006
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Award: Forensic Applications of Y-Chromosome STRs and SNPs

Annotation

This article reports on the creation of a DNA database for 2,517 individuals from 38 U.S. populations; the database consists of the 11 Y chromosome short-tandem-repeat (Y-STR) recommended by the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods.

Abstract

The analyses support the creation of African-American, European-American, Hispanic-American, and Asian-American databases in which samples from various geographic regions within the United States are pooled. The authors recommend that separate databases be developed for various Native-American groups. A population database is necessary in order to estimate the probability that two or more unrelated males share the same Y-STR haplotype. To obtain an accurate estimate of a haplotype's frequency, the database should be sufficiently large to represent the range of ethnic groups within a population. The population samples in the database described in this article derive from 5 ethnic groups--African-Americans (n=651), European-Americans (n=927), Hispanic-Americans (n=479), Asian-Americans (n=62), and 1 dispersed cluster of Native-Americans (n=398)--living in 10 States. An analysis of molecular variance found that a large proportion of the total genetic variance was partitioned among ethnic groups (24.8 percent); whereas, only a small amount (1.5 percent) was found among populations within ethnic groups. Separate analyses of molecular variance within each ethnic group determined that only the Native-American sample contained statistically significant among-population variation. Pair-wise population differentiation tests revealed heterogeneity among European-American and Hispanic-American populations; however, this was due to only a single sample within each group. Descriptions of materials and methods cover the DNA samples, multiplex PCR and DNA typing, and statistical analyses. 2 figures, 3 tables, and 21 references