Forensic genomics research on microhaplotypes.

ABSTRACT

Microhaplotype loci (microhaplotype, MHs), defined by two or more closely linked single nucleotide polymorphisms, are a type of molecular marker within a short segment of DNA. As emerging forensic genetic markers, MHs have no stutter artefacts and higher polymorphism, and permit the design of smaller amplicons. In order to identify the markers from a genome wide perspective and explore their potential application further, we constructed the most comprehensive MH dataset to date, based on the whole genome sequencing data of 105 Han individuals in Southern China from 1000 Genomes Project. The results showed that there were 9,490,075 MH loci in the range of 350 bp in the human genome, and the distribution density of microhaplotypes suggests gene variation. Polymorphism analysis of MHs from various base spans showed that the polymorphism of MHs could reach or exceed common short tandem repeat sites. In addition, based on their flexible assembly, a scheme to build the public database of microhaplotypes was proposed.