Genetic diversity of 23 Y-STR loci of the Lisu ethnic minority residing in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, Southwest China.

Background: The Lisu group is a unique minority in Yunnan province. However, there is a lack of Y-STR population data for Chinese Lisu and the genetic structure of the Lisu group and other populations is unclear.

Aim: To provide genetic data for 23 Y-STRs in the Chinese Lisu population from Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, as well as to analyse population genetic relationships between Chinese Lisu ethnic minority and other reference groups.

Subjects and methods: 423 unrelated healthy Lisu males were genotyped using the PowerPlex® Y23 system. Forensic parameters were calculated according to the previously published studies. Genetic structure analysis among Chinese Lisu and other populations was conducted using the YHRD's AMOVA tools.

Results: Gene diversity (GD) ranged from 0.2,466 (DYS438) to 0.8,945 (DYS385a/b) among the 23 Y-STR loci. According to haplotype analysis, 323 different haplotypes were obtained, out of which 271 were unique. The haplotype diversity (HD) and discrimination capacity (DC) were 0.9,977 and 0.7,636, respectively. MDS plot indicated that the Chuxiong Lisu group is genetically related to the Yunnan Yi group.

Conclusions: This is the first report on Y-STR population data for the Chinese Lisu population. These data would be valuable for forensic applications.