Population data of 17 Y-STR loci from Rio Grande do Sul state (South Brazil).

A sample of 255 Brazilian males from Rio Grande do Sul (RS), the Brazilian southernmost state, was typed for 17 Y-STR loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, YGATA_H4.1 and DYS385ab). A total of 247 haplotypes were identified, of which 239 were unique and eight were found in two individuals each. The haplotype diversity (99.98%) and discrimination capacity (96.86%) were calculated. Pairwise haplotype distances showed that the RS population is not significantly different from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, and Argentina, is different from São Paulo, Italy, and North Portugal, and is very distant from Spain, the Amazon region, Germany, and South Amerindians. When the RS data was separated in the seven geopolitical regions, some pairs of regions were significantly different; however no region was different from the whole Brazilian sample.

Y-STR analysis in Brazilian and South Amerindian populations.

A sample of 203 Brazilian males from Rio Grande do Sul (RS), the Brazilian southernmost state, was typed for 11 Y-STR markers (DYS19, DYS389I/II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385, DYS437, DYS438, and DYS439). We also typed 42 individuals from two South Amerindian tribes (Kaingang and Guarani) to use the data as parental Amerindian contribution to our analyses. Gene and haplotypic diversities were estimated, with the South Amerindian samples showing smaller values for these parameters than Brazilians. To obtain a more comprehensive picture of the genetic structure of the Brazilian population as a whole, the Y-STR data from the RS sample was compared with those already published. No genetic substructuring was observed in the comparisons performed. Multidimensional scaling confirmed the proposed European source of most Y-chromosome Brazilian patrilineages.