African Jordanian Population Genetic Database on Fifteen Short Tandem Repeat Genetic Loci Salem R. Yasin, Mawieh M. Hamad, Ali Z. ElKarmi, Adnan S. Jaran 1 Department of Biological Sciences, Hashmite University, Zarqa; and 1 Department of Biological Sciences, Al-alBayt University, Mefraq, Jordan Aim To establish a genetic database of the African-Jordanian population for forensic and paternity testing purposes. Method Allelic distribution at fifteen short tandem repeat (STR) loci was determined for 95 healthy unrelated Af- rican-Jordanians. The 15 autosomal STR loci, included within the GenePrint® PowerPlex™ 16 system, were amplified from the subset of the 95 DNA extracts isolated from the population sample. Electro- phoresis for each polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product was carried out using the ABI Prism 310 Genetic Analyzer and the length of the amplified DNA fragments was determined using the Genotype 2.0 and PowerTyper 16 Macro softwares. Calculations of allelic frequencies, forensic efficiency param- eters, Hardy-Weinberg departure, and quantitative analysis of the allele frequencies in various popula- tions were determined. Results DNA extracts were successfully amplified and the genetic database was compiled. All tested loci showed no significant statistical deviation from Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Furthermore, no signifi- cant difference was observed between the sample population under investigation and other population genetic databases. Conclusion The loci investigated here proved to be sufficiently polymorphic for forensic purposes, since the foren- sic efficiency values suggest that they are very discriminating in the African-Jordanian subpopulation. Short tandem repeat (STR) genetic loci are highly polymorphic repeat sequences of nu- cleotides, which are abundant in eukaryotic DNA (1,2). Their importance rises from the fact that they are the most informative genetic markers provid- ing high statistical capability of discrimination and individualization (2-6) in various forensic and judi- cial settings. Their importance and polymorphic nature is widely acknowledged and documented because of extensive forensic, medical, and ethnogenetic search that was prompted by various research communities worldwide (5-11) for proper utilization of their discrimination power and poly- morphic nature in human identification, medical diagnosis, and linkage studies. We describe here our work on compil- ing a genetic database for 15 forensic STR loci – D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, TH01, vWA, TPOX, CSF1PO, FGA, Penta D, and Penta E in African-Jordanians. Such genetic database would provide estimates of the frequency of a DNA profile in human identity testing, particularly in Jordan, and further shed lights on the polymor- phic nature of these forensic loci. Earlier, we re- ported the allelic frequency distribution of STR loci in Caucasian Jordanians and demonstrated significant differences between Jordanian Cauca- sian population and Caucasian, Hispanic-, Afri- can-Americans, and black population of Central 587 www.cmj.hr FORENSIC SCIENCE Croat Med J 2005;46(4):587-592