Genetic polymorphisms of 24 Y-STR loci in Hani ethnic minority from Yunnan Province, Southwest China

In the present study, 24 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci were analyzed in 250 unrelated Hani male individuals from Lvchun county, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Southwest China. The gene diversity of the 24 Y-STR loci in the studied Hani group ranged from 0.2683 (DYS437) to 0.8837 (DYS447). According to haplotypic analysis of the 24 Y-STR loci, 204 different haplotypes were obtained, 174 of which were unique. The haplotype diversity and discrimination capacity in Hani group were 0.9977 and 0.8160 at 24 STR loci, respectively. Six single non-fraction off-ladder alleles were observed at DYS447 in 103 samples, in addition to the alleles 19 to 28 included in the allelic ladder, alleles 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 were also observed at DYS447. One intermediate allele 20.2 was observed in one individual at DYS527a/b. We analyzed interpopulation differentiations by making comparisons between Yunnan Hani group and other 17 groups. The results of pairwise genetic distances, multidimensional scaling plot, and neighbor-joining tree at the same set of 17 Y-filer loci indicated that Yunnan Hani group had the closer genetic relationships with Yunnan Han group. The present results may provide useful information for paternal lineages in forensic cases and can also increase our understanding of the genetic relationships between Hani and other groups.