OBJECTIVETo investigate the genetic polymorphisms of 15 short tandem repeat (STR) loci in Tujia ethnic group of Hubei province, and to compare the allele frequencies between Hubei Tujia and Chongqing Tujia populations.

METHODSCapillary electrophoresis and five-color fluorescent multi-amplification were applied to detect the genotypes of 15 STR loci in 333 unrelated Hubei Tujia individuals.

RESULTSOne hundred and fifty one alleles were observed in the population, which is higher than 141 alleles observed in Chongqin Tujia population, and their frequencies were from 0.002 to 0.498. No significant deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium was observed (P>0.05). Statistical analysis showed that the heterozygosity of the 15 loci ranged from 0.652 to 0.867. The values of discrimination power (DP) ranged from 0.802 to 0.971. The values of excluding probability of paternity (EPP) ranged from 0.357 to 0.730, and the polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.57-0.87. The fifteen loci showed an accumulated total discrimination power (TDP) of more than 0.999 999 9, and the cumulative excluding probability of paternity was 0.999 999 7.

CONCLUSIONThis study has accumulated the population genetic data of the 15 STRs in Hubei Tujia ethnic group. The data can be used in forensic and individual identification for this population. Hubei Tujia is phylogenetically related to Chongqing Tujia, and the allele frequencies were non-distinctive (P>0.05), while the number of alleles detected, and the frequencies of some alleles observed were different.