Genetic population analysis of 17 Y-chromosomal STRs in three states (Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño) from Southwestern Colombia

Seventeen Y-chromosomal (DYS19, DYS389 I/II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS438, DYS439, DYS437, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, YGATA-H4 and DYS385a/b) short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphic systems were typed in three South West Colombian populations: Valle (short term for Valle del Cauca), Cauca and Narino. DYS385a/b showed the highest gene diversity in the three populations. A total of 287 different Y-chromosome haplotypes were observed in the 308 males analyzed, and the haplotype diversity among populations was 0.9977. The most frequent haplotype was observed only three times and only nineteen others were observed two times. The highest gene diversity was found in Valle and the lowest in Cauca. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that variation is mainly within populations (99.1%) in agreement with previous results in European populations. In conclusion, these populations could be pooled together in order to create one ‘‘Colombian-Mestizo” database for forensic use.