Molecular diversity of 23 Y-chromosome short tandem repeat loci in the population of Tuzla Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract Background: Tuzla Canton is the most populated region in the ethnically mixed territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose genetic analysis could provide an insight into past demographic events. Aim: Analysis of 23 Y-chromosome STR markers in the population of Tuzla Canton and investigation of the genetic relationship of the male population of the Tuzla Canton and that of the larger Bosnian and Herzegovinian population as well as neighbouring and other European populations. Subjects and methods: The study was conducted among 100 unrelated healthy adult males from Tuzla Canton that have been genotyped using 23 Y-STR loci included in the PowerPlex Y23 kit. Statistical parameters such as haplotype diversity and allele frequencies were calculated, as well as the Rst-based genetic distances between the new dataset and those from Bosnia and Herzegovina and elsewhere, which were then visualised through multi-dimensional scaling plot and neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree analyses. Results: The PowerPlex Y23 kit has shown high discrimination capacity, as all 100 individuals have unique haplotypes. The newly incorporated loci seem to be highly informative. Population comparison reveals no statistically significant differences between the study population and the general Bosnian-Herzegovinian population, and between the study population and neighbouring populations. Conclusion: These results could be used as an additional investigation of the genetic relationship between the regional populations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and neighbouring human populations, as well as for further human population and forensic genetics studies.