OBJECTIVETo obtain the polymorphism data of six short tandem repeat (STR) loci, i.e. D9S925, D11S2368, D14S608, D15S659, D17S1290 and D20S470, in Chinese Han population in Shanxi province, and to evaluate the usefulness of the polymorphism data in forensic science.

METHODSThe D9S925, D11S2368, D14S608, D17S1290 and D20S470 primers were synthesized according to GenBank, while the D15S659 primers were self-designed. These primers were used to amplify DNA from 194 unrelated individuals collected from Shanxi Han population. Then the amplified fragments were separated by electrophoresis in 3130 Genetic Analyzer. GeneMapper3.2 software was used to analyze the results.

RESULTSThe distributions of genotypes for the six STR loci were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The polymorphism information content (PIC) of the six STR loci were from 0.750 to 0.860, and the heterozygosity ranged from 0.756 to 0.894, and the discrimination power were from 0.920 to 0.965, and the probability of exclusion were from 0.519 to 0.784. The combined probability of exclusion and the combined discrimination power were 0.9988 and 0.99999998, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe data indicated that D9S925, D11S2368, D14S608, D15S659, D17S1290 and D20S470 loci have high probability of exclusion and discrimination power. They can be used as genetic markers in forensic test and personal identification.