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Microhaplotypes (MHs) consisting of multiple SNPs and indels on short stretches of DNA are new and interesting loci for forensic genetic investigations. In this study, we analysed 74 previously defined MHs in two of the populations that our laboratory provides with forensic genetic services, Danes and Greenlanders. In addition to the 229 SNPs that originally made up the 74 MHs, 66 SNPs and 3 indels were identified in the two populations, and 45 of these variants were included in new definitions of the MHs, whereas 24 SNPs were considered rare and of little value for case work. The average effective number of alleles (Ae) was 3.2, 3.0, and 2.6 in Danes, West Greenlanders, and East Greenlanders, respectively. High levels of linkage disequilibrium were observed in East Greenlanders, which reflects the characteristics of this population that has a small size, and signs of admixture and substructure. Pairwise kinship simulations of full siblings, half-siblings, first cousins, and unrelated individuals were performed using allele frequencies from MHs, STRs and SNPs from Danish and Greenlandic populations. The MH panel outperformed the currently used STR and SNP marker sets and was able to differentiate siblings from unrelated individuals with a 0% false positive rate and a 1.1% false negative rate using an LR threshold of 10,000 in the Danish population. However, the panel was not able to differentiate half-siblings or first cousins from unrelated individuals. The results generated in this study will be used to implement MHs as investigative markers for relationship testing in our laboratory

Microhaplotypes (MHs) consisting of multiple SNPs and indels on short stretches of DNA are new and interesting loci for forensic genetic investigations. In this study, we analysed 74 previously defined MHs in two of the populations that our laboratory provides with forensic genetic services, Danes and Greenlanders. In addition to the 229 SNPs that originally made up the 74 MHs, 66 SNPs and 3 indels were identified in the two populations, and 45 of these variants were included in new definitions of the MHs, whereas 24 SNPs were considered rare and of little value for case work. The average effective number of alleles (Ae) was 3.2, 3.0, and 2.6 in Danes, West Greenlanders, and East Greenlanders, respectively. High levels of linkage disequilibrium were observed in East Greenlanders, which reflects the characteristics of this population that has a small size, and signs of admixture and substructure. Pairwise kinship simulations of full siblings, half-siblings, first cousins, and unrelated individuals were performed using allele frequencies from MHs, STRs and SNPs from Danish and Greenlandic populations. The MH panel outperformed the currently used STR and SNP marker sets and was able to differentiate siblings from unrelated individuals with a 0% false positive rate and a 1.1% false negative rate using an LR threshold of 10,000 in the Danish population. However, the panel was not able to differentiate half-siblings or first cousins from unrelated individuals. The results generated in this study will be used to implement MHs as investigative markers for relationship testing in our laboratory

The AmpFℓSTR® NGM SElect™ Kit is a highly robust multiplex kit developed for human identification. This kit contains the expanded European Standard Set of Loci and the highly polymorphic SE33 locus. The high power of discrimination makes it one of the most informative kits for forensic applications. In order to evaluate the kit and get population data for Chinese Uyghurs and Kazakhs, the genetic polymorphisms of 16 autosomal STR loci included in the NGM SElect™ Kit: D3S1358, vWA, D16S539, D2S1338, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D19S433, TH01, FGA, D10S1248, D22S1045, D2S441, D1S1656 D12S391, SE33, and Amelogenin were studied in 324 unrelated Uyghur and 124 unrelated Kazakh individuals from the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. Allele frequencies and forensic relevant parameters were calculated using the Arlequin software and DNAVIEW. The genotype frequency distribution of each locus did not deviate from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium in any of the two populations. The forensic parameters indicated that the kit is suitable for personal identification, paternity testing, and complex kinship analysis in Uyghur and Kazakh populations. Allele frequency data for the STR loci were compared with other previously published population data., The AmpFℓSTR® NGM SElect™ Kit is a highly robust multiplex kit developed for human identification. This kit contains the expanded European Standard Set of Loci and the highly polymorphic SE33 locus. The high power of discrimination makes it one of the most informative kits for forensic applications. In order to evaluate the kit and get population data for Chinese Uyghurs and Kazakhs, the genetic polymorphisms of 16 autosomal STR loci included in the NGM SElect™ Kit: D3S1358, vWA, D16S539, D2S1338, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D19S433, TH01, FGA, D10S1248, D22S1045, D2S441, D1S1656 D12S391, SE33, and Amelogenin were studied in 324 unrelated Uyghur and 124 unrelated Kazakh individuals from the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. Allele frequencies and forensic relevant parameters were calculated using the Arlequin software and DNAVIEW. The genotype frequency distribution of each locus did not deviate from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium in any of the two populations. The forensic parameters indicated that the kit is suitable for personal identification, paternity testing, and complex kinship analysis in Uyghur and Kazakh populations. Allele frequency data for the STR loci were compared with other previously published population data.