Int J Legal Med (2005) 119: 111–115 DOI 10.1007/s00414-004-0488-6 SHORT COMMUNICATION C. Barrot . C. Sánchez . M. Ortega . A. González-Martín . C. Brand-Casadevall . A. Gorostiza . E. Huguet . J. Corbella . M. Gené Characterisation of three Amerindian populations from Hidalgo State (Mexico) by 15 STR-PCR polymorphisms Received: 15 March 2004 / Accepted: 13 August 2004 / Published online: 18 September 2004 # Springer-Verlag 2004 Abstract The purpose of this study is to report allele frequency data of three ethnic Amerindian population samples: the Otomi (Hña-hñu) from eastern Sierra Madre and Ixmiquilpan valley and the Huasteco from La Huasteca. These groups were characterised by 15 STR- PCR polymorphisms (HumTH01, HumvWA, D18S51, HumTPOX, D19S433, D16S539, D13S317, D8S1179, D7S820, D5S818, HumFGA, CSF1PO, D2S1338, D3S1358 and D21S11). No significant deviations in observed allelic frequencies from Hardy-Weinberg equi- librium were found for all the studied systems. From the forensic point of view, the heterozygosity value, power of discrimination and the a priori chance of exclusion were calculated. Keywords Population genetics . Amerindian . STR polymorphisms . Otomi . Huasteco Introduction DNA polymorphisms using short tandem repeat (STR) loci have been studied in some Amerindian populations [1, 2]. Some authors have emphasised the forensic interest in studying the genetic profile of native populations [3, 4]. The aim of this study is to broaden the knowledge on the population genetics of Amerindian. The Huasteco population lives in La Huasteca, an area located in central eastern Sierra Madre, in Hidalgo State (northeast Mexico). They call themselves Teenek or Huasteco and their language is possibly of Mayan origin. The ethnographical interpretation is that they are a group of Mayan people who remained isolated by the cultural and demographic pressure of Nahualt migrations [Oficina para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas del Gobierno Mexicano http://indigenas.presidencia.gob.mx/programa/ versionpdf/HuastecosSLP.pdf]. The native population numbers around 60,200 individuals [INEGI (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía Informática) – 2000. XII Censo de Población y vivienda. http://www.inegi.gob. mx]. We studied a sample of 135 people from 4 different towns in the area, located close to each other: Xochiatipan, Yahualica, Atlapexco and Huetjutla. The two Otomi Amerindian population groups are from Hidalgo, one group lives in the villages of Tenango de Doria and San Bartolo Tutotepec (La Sierra Madre Oriental), and a sample of 91 individuals was studied. The other group lives in El Cardonal (Ixmiquilpan valley), and the studied sample was 83 people. Both groups speak different dialects of the Hña hñu language, which belongs to the linguistic group of the Otopame. According to the “Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geográfica e Informá- tica” of Mexico, 11,498 people speak this language in eastern Sierra Madre and 8,862 in Ixmiquilpan valley. C. Barrot (*) . C. Sánchez . M. Ortega . A. Gorostiza . E. Huguet . J. Corbella Forensic Genetics Laboratory Department of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine University of Barcelona, C/ Casanova 143, 08036 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain e-mail: cbarrotfeixat@ub.edu Tel.: +34-93-4035289 Fax: +34-93-4035290 A. González-Martín History and Anthropology Area, Autonomous University of Hidalgo State, Mexico C. Brand-Casadevall Legal Medicine Institute, Lausanne, Switzerland M. Gené Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona Bellvitge Hospital, Catalonia, Spain