ABSTRACT
Background
To study the genetic characteristics of X-chromosome short tandem repeats (X-STRs) in the Yunnan Yi ethnic minority.
Methods
We analyzed the allele frequencies and forensic parameters for 16 X-STR loci in 432 unrelated Yi individuals (206 males and 226 females) in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province.
Results
A total of 130 alleles were detected. Except for DXS6800, the other loci are highly polymorphic in the Yunnan Yi ethnicity. The combined values of discrimination for males (PDM) and females (PDF) were 0.999999999968561 and 0.999999999999993, respectively, which can be used for forensic medical identification and genetic studies. On the basis of the results of population comparison, there seems to be a relatively close evolutionary relationship between adjacent populations and different ethnic groups in the same region.
Conclusions
This study contributes to X-chromosome genetic polymorphism data for the Yunnan Yi ethnicity and further enriches reference materials on the Chinese Yi ethnic minority.