Haplotype diversity of 17 Y-STR loci in a Chinese Han population sample from Shanxi Province, Northern China

The distribution of 17 Y-chromosome STR loci DYS456, DYS389I, DYS390, DYS389II, DYS458, DYS19, DYS385a/b, DYS393, DYS391, DYS439, DYS635, DYS392, Y-GATA-H4, DYS437, DYS438, and DYS448 haplotypes was determined in a population sample of 222 unrelated Chinese Han from Shanxi Province, Northern China. A total of 219 haplotypes were observed, and of these, 216 were unique, while 3 were found two times. The overall haplotype diversity was 0.9999 and the discrimination capacity was 0.9865, indicating a high potential for differentiating between male individuals in this population. Comparison analysis via Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) and construction of MDS plot revealed that Shanxi Han sample clusters with Chinese origin populations and stands far apart of the non-Chinese populations, justifying the establishment of local databases in Shanxi Han population for any future forensic and genetic epidemiology efforts in this region.