Genetic characteristics and forensic features of Xibe ethnic group revealed via extended set of Y-STRs

Xibe is the fifth largest minority population of Liaoning province. Predominately they live in Liaoning province (69.52%), followed by Xinjiang (18.06%), Heilongjiang (3.99%), Jilin (1.63%) and Inner Mongolia provinces (1.57%). To provide an updated and precise population database on an extended set of Y STRs not available before and explore the forensic characteristics of 26 Y chromosomal STRs. In this study, we genotyped 406 unrelated Xibe male individuals from Liaoning province using Goldeneye^® 26Y System kit and calculated the forensic parameters of these 26 Y STRs loci. All haplotypes generated for 406 Xibe samples using Goldeneye^® 26Y kit were unique with a discrimination capacity (DC) of 1. On restricting the haplotypes to the Y-filer^® set of 17 Y-STRs, we observed 392 haplotypes. Among them 93.53% (380) were unique with a DC of 0.9655 and haplotype diversity (HD) of 0.9998, showing high discrimination power of the extended set of markers in this population. Allelic frequencies ranged from 0.0024 to 0.7684 across 26 Y STRs loci. DYS385 showed the highest gene diversity (0.9691) among all markers. According to pairwise R_ST genetic distances among Xibe populations from China, the Liaoning Xibe population showed the closest genetic distance (0.0035) followed by Xinjiang Xibe population (0.0218). Multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis among Xibe and 29 other Chinese populations showed that local populations such as Manchu from Liaoning and Han from Beijing had a close affinity while Tibetans from Aba, China, were most distant from Xibe populations. Moreover, 12 individuals showed a null allele at DYS448 in Xibe population samples. We submitted Y-STRs data in the Y-Chromosome Haplotype Reference Database (YHRD) for future forensic and other usage.

锡伯族是辽宁省第五大少数民族。该族群主要聚居地为辽宁省，占比达69.52%，其余分布依次为新疆维吾尔自治区（18.06%）、黑龙江省（3.99%）、吉林省（1.63%）及内蒙古自治区（1.57%）。
本研究旨在构建一套此前未公开的扩展Y染色体短串联重复序列（Y-STRs）群体数据库，并探究26个Y染色体STR位点的法医学应用特征。
本研究采用Goldeneye®26Y系统试剂盒，对406名来自辽宁省的无关锡伯族男性个体进行基因分型，并计算该26个Y-STR位点的法医学参数。
使用Goldeneye®26Y试剂盒对406份锡伯族样本进行分型得到的所有单倍型均为唯一单倍型，识别能力（DC）为1。当将单倍型限定为Y-filer®试剂盒覆盖的17个Y-STR位点时，共获得392个单倍型，其中93.53%（380个）为唯一单倍型，识别能力为0.9655，单倍型多样性（HD）为0.9998，表明本研究所采用的扩展位点组合在该群体中具备较高的识别效能。
26个Y-STR位点的等位基因频率分布范围为0.0024至0.7684。在所有检测位点中，DYS385的基因多样性最高，达0.9691。
通过对中国境内各锡伯族群体间的成对R_ST遗传距离分析发现，辽宁省锡伯族群体与其他群体的遗传距离最近（0.0035），其次为新疆锡伯族群体（0.0218）。
对锡伯族群体与其余29个中国人群体开展多维尺度分析（MDS），结果显示辽宁满族、北京汉族等本地群体与锡伯族群体亲缘关系较近，而中国阿坝藏族群体与锡伯族群体的遗传距离最远。
此外，本研究的锡伯族样本中共有12名个体在DYS448位点检出缺失等位基因（null allele）。
本研究已将本次获得的Y-STRs数据提交至Y染色体单倍型参考数据库（YHRD），以供未来法医学及其他相关研究使用。