Genetic diversity and phylogenetic study of the Chinese Gelao ethnic minority via 23 Y-STR loci

Haplotype diversity for 23 Y chromosomal short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci included in the PowerPlex(A (R)) Y23 System was analyzed in the Chinese Gelao minority group of 234 unrelated males living in Daozhen Gelao-Miao Autonomous County in Guizhou Province, southwest China. A total of 216 different haplotypes were detected, of which 199 haplotypes were unique. The overall haplotype diversity (HD) and discrimination capacity (DC) were 0.9996 and 0.9231, respectively. The gene diversity (GD) ranged from 0.4159 (DYS438) to 0.9650 (DYS385a/b). The haplotype frequencies varied from 0.0043 to 0.0128. The population data presented here showed high genetic polymorphism and extraordinary discriminatory power in the studied population. Population difference was observed between the Chinese Gelao ethnicity and 42 populations out of overall 59 neighboring populations in Asia region. Both multidimensional scaling (MDS) and the phylogenetic tree demonstrated that the genetic structure affinity and differentiation with Chinese Gelao ethnicity were identified in those populations geographically adjacent (Hunan Han) and distant (Chinese Tibetan), respectively. In conclusion, our study enriched the Chinese ethnic genetic information and could be used as a powerful tool in forensic genetics for male testing, paternal lineage analysis, and Gelao ethnic population evolutionary studies.