Genetic polymorphisms of 12 X-STRs in the Ecuadorian population

Abstract

The X-STR markers represent a powerful tool to complement the information provided by the autosomal and Y chromosome markers, particularly, in cases involving at least one woman. In the present study, allele frequencies, power of exclusion (PE), power of discrimination (PD) and polymorphism information content (PIC) were analyzed for 12 X chromosome loci. A total of 200 unrelated Ecuadorian individuals were selected for the population analysis. The data showed that DXS10135 locus had the highest power of discrimination value (PD = 0.9351), and polymorphism information content (PIC = 0.9313). The heterozygosity observed ranged from 0.9300 to 0.6400. The power of exclusion varied between 0.3417 to 0.8570 for DXS10135 and DXS8378 respectively. No significant departure from Hardy Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) was detected for any of the analyzed markers. The X-STR markers have demonstrated their potential to efficiently complement the analysis to solve complex kinship and forensic cases.