Announcement of Population Data Nilotes from Karamoja, Uganda: Haplotype data defined by 17 Y-chromosome STRs Vero ´ nica Gomes a,b, *, Cı ´ntia Alves a , Anto ´ nio Amorim a,c ,A ´ ngel Carracedo b , Paula Sa ´ nchez-Diz b , Leonor Gusma ˜o a a Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of University of Porto (IPATIMUP), Porto, Portugal b Institute of Legal Medicine, Genomics Medicine Group, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain c Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal Population: The samples used in this work were obtained with informed consent from 118 unrelated males. All these individuals are pastoralists and speak a Nilotic language. In a previous study by Gusma ˜o et al. [1], 40 males included in this work were typed for Y- STRs, but only for the 12 Y-STRs included in PowerPlex 1 Y Systems (Promega). These samples were also studied for autosomal and X- chromosome STR markers [2,3]. Extraction: Previously described in Gomes et al. [2]. PCR: The PCR was performed using AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR amplification kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster city, CA, USA), following manufacturer’s recommendations. Typing: Typing was achieved using an ABI 3130 Genetic Analyser (Applied Biosystems). The amplified products were compared with reference sequenced ladders provided by the manufacturer (Applied Biosystems) and the analysis was performed using GeneMapper 1 ID Software v3.2. Allele’s designation for GATA H4.1 locus is in accordance to the ISFG recommendations [4]. Results: The haplotype data are presented in Table 1. Pairwise genetic distances (R st ) and corresponding P values are presented in Table 2. Quality control: Proficiency testing of the GEP-ISFG working group (http://www.gep-isfg.org). YHRD: The Y-STR haplotype data for Karamoja population was deposited in the Y Chromosome Haplotype Reference Database (YHRD.ORG3.0—www.yhrd.org) [5], with the accession number YA003498 and population ID YP000551 (www.yhrd.org/ YP000551). Analysis of data: Haplotype diversity in our population was calculated with Arlequin v3.11 software [6]. The pairwise genetic distances (R st ) and P values were determined with the online AMOVA tool available at the YHRD.ORG3.0 [5]. For population comparison purposes only seven loci were considered (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, and DYS393), those common to all populations from Karamoja (present study), Cape Town, South Africa (Xhosa, Bantu) [7], Mozambique (general population, Bantu) [8], Guinea-Bissau (general population, Atlantic and Mande) [9], Cabinda, Angola (general population, Bantu; in YHRD), Equatorial Guinea (general population, Bantu) [10], Cameroon (unidentified, in YHRD), Ethiopia (Amharic; in YHRD), Forensic Science International: Genetics xxx (2009) xxx–xxx ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 17 June 2009 Accepted 2 July 2009 Available online xxx Keywords: Y-STRs Yfiler Nilotes Karamoja Uganda ABSTRACT In this work 118 Nilote male samples were genotyped from Karamoja region, in Northeast Uganda, through 17 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs)—DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635 and GATA H4.1. A total of 94 different haplotypes were found, where 19 were shared by at least two individuals, and haplotype diversity amounted to 0.9958 Æ 0.0017. When considering only the nine Y-STRs included in the minimal haplotype (YHRD) the haplotype diversity decreased to 0.9807 Æ 0.0048, a similar value to those found in other African populations such as Mozambique, Angola and Guinea-Bissau. Population comparisons were performed between our sample and nine other African populations. Significant R st genetic distances were obtained between the Nilote population from Karamoja and all African populations used for comparison, except Xhosa sample from South Africa. In the multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot, the Karamoja sample is well separated from all other populations, standing between the Ethiopia and the Bantu samples, although closer to this last group. ß 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: IPATIMUP, R. Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n. 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. Tel.: +351 225570700; fax: +351 225570799. E-mail address: vgomes@ipatimup.pt (V. Gomes). G Model FSIGEN-489; No of Pages 4 Please cite this article in press as: V. Gomes, et al., Nilotes from Karamoja, Uganda: Haplotype data defined by 17 Y-chromosome STRs, Forensic Sci. Int. Genet. (2009), doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2009.07.001 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Forensic Science International: Genetics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fsig 1872-4973/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2009.07.001