Haplotype diversity of 17 Y-STR in the Iranian population.

The current study aimed to evaluate Y chromosome haplotypes obtained from 1353 unrelated Iranian males using the AmpFlSTRTM YfilerTM kit; 1353 out of the 1353 identified haplotypes were unique. The haplotype diversity (HD) and discriminating capacity (DC) values were 1.00000 and 0.997, respectively. Analysis of genetic distance was performed using molecular variance (AMOVA) and multidimensional scaling plots (MDS), revealing a statistically significant difference between the study population and previous data reported for other Iranian populations and other neighboring countries. The present findings are likely to be useful for forensic casework analyses and kinship investigations.

Genetic polymorphisms of Y-chromosome short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) in a male population from Golestan province, Iran.

Short Tandem Repeats (STRs), which are located out of pseudo-autosomal parts of the human Y chromosome and passed-down from fathers to the male offspring in a non-recombinant form, are regarded as appropriate markers for forensic purposes and evolutionary investigations. Few studies concerned the genotyping of Y chromosome short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) among the ethnic groups of the north of Iran, especially the province of Golestan which is a multiethnic region of Iran. Thus, in this work we investigated the frequency of Y-STR haplotypes among the male population from Golestan province, to elucidate their identity and kinship patterns. A total number of 106 unrelated male individuals participated in this study. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples and the multiplex polymerase chain reaction was employed to amplify DNA fragments. Genotyping was performed using capillary electrophoresis and, finally, allele polymorphisms, haplotype diversity (HD) and haplotype discrimination capacity (DC) were determined using GenAlEXv6.5 and Arlequin v5.3.2 software and compared to other regions of Iran. A total number of 87 unique haplotypes were determined. The highest and least allelic polymorphism was observed for the DYS385b and DYS391 loci, respectively. HD and DC were 0.9962 and 0.8207, respectively. In the case of locus with the least allelic variation, we didn't observe any difference between the Gilan and Golestan but there was a difference between the Golestan and Mazandaran provinces. Our results indicated the efficiency of Y-STRs to be used as genetic markers for forensic medicine, and also the evolutionary comparison of different ethnic groups of Golestan, Iran. Also, a low genetic distance between the population of Golestan with other northern provinces was noticed.

Profiling of 17 Y-STR loci in Mazandaran and Gilan provinces of Iran

Background/aim: TheY-chromosome mainly consists of heterochromatin regions that have a father-to-son inheritance. Short tandem repeat polymorphic (STRP) markers distributed all over the chromosome provide the opportunity for investigations in forensic medicine and ancestral lineage studies. Due to the existence of wide varieties of geographical and ethnic groups in Iran, studying Y-STRP markers is necessary for further applications. Here we investigated the provinces of Mazandaran and Gilan for the first time. Materials and methods: Samples included 119 and 90 unrelated males from Mazandaran and Gilan, respectively. Using a PCR amplification kit, 17 Y-STRP markers were amplified and genotyping was conducted by capillary electrophoresis. Allele frequency, haplotype diversity (HD), and haplotype discrimination capacity (DC) were calculated. The populations were compared together and to neighboring countries including Afghanistan and Azerbaijan by FST index. Results: A total of 204 unique haplotypes were observed. No uniqueness was observed between the two provinces. HD was 0.9993 and 0.9998 in Mazandaran and Gilan, respectively. DC was 0.9666 and 0.9888 for Mazandaran and Gilan, respectively. DYS385b and DYS391 had the most and least polymorphic content in both provinces, respectively. There was not a significant difference between these two provinces (FST = 0.0006 and P = 0.00) and neighboring countries. Conclusion: The results highlight the effectiveness of these Y-STRP markers for male discrimination in the north of Iran. Using additional markers along with extended sample size would provide a better opportunity for removing matched haplotypes and introducing the best polymorphic markers in this specific population.