Assessment of genetic polymorphism at 20 autosomal STR loci in scheduled caste population of Himachal Pradesh.

In this study, we evaluated the genetic diversity indices and forensic parameters of scheduled caste population of Himachal Pradesh, India, at 20 autosomal STR loci. Altogether, 233 alleles were observed with an average of 11.65 ± 0.88 alleles per locus. In exception of locus D13S317, no loci deviated from Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. Locus Penta E was found to be the most polymorphic and discriminative loci. The combined power of discrimination and the combined power of exclusion were 1 and 0.999. Further, we established the phylogenetic relationship between the scheduled caste population of Himachal Pradesh and 14 other populations of India. We found 20 autosomal STR loci used in the present study were polymorphic and can be used in population genetic studies and forensic related case works.