Inference of biogeographical ancestry across central regions of Eurasia.
The inference of biogeographical ancestry (BGA) can provide useful information for forensic investigators when there are no suspects to be compared with DNA collected at the crime scene or when no DNA database matches exist. Although public databases are increasing in size and population scope, there is a lack of information regarding genetic variation in Eurasian populations, especially in central regions such as the Middle East. Inhabitants of these regions show a high degree of genetic admixture, characterized by an allele frequency cline running from NW Europe to East Asia. Although a proper differentiation has been established between the cline extremes of western Europe and South Asia, populations geographically located in between, i.e, Middle East and Mediterranean populations, require more detailed study in order to characterize their genetic background as well as to further understand their demographic histories. To initiate these studies, three ancestry informative SNP (AI-SNP) multiplex panels: the SNPforID 34-plex, Eurasiaplex and a novel 33-plex assay were used to describe the ancestry patterns of a total of 24 populations ranging across the longitudinal axis from NW Europe to East Asia. Different ancestry inference approaches, including STRUCTURE, PCA, DAPC and Snipper Bayes analysis, were applied to determine relationships among populations. The structure results show differentiation between continental groups and a NW to SE allele frequency cline running across Eurasian populations. This study adds useful population data that could be used as reference genotypes for future ancestry investigations in forensic cases. The 33-plex assay also includes pigmentation predictive SNPs, but this study primarily focused on Eurasian population differentiation using 33-plex and its combination with the other two AI-SNP sets.
Institute of Forensic Sciences, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. ozlembulbul00@gmail.com.|Institute of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. ozlembulbul00@gmail.com.
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Bulbul
Institute of Forensic Sciences, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
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Filoglu
Institute of Forensic Sciences, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
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Zorlu
Institute of Forensic Sciences, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
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Altuncul
Forensic Genetics Unit, Institute of Forensic Science "Luís Concheiro", University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
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Freire-Aradas
Forensic Genetics Unit, Institute of Forensic Science "Luís Concheiro", University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.|Department of Forensic Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
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Söchtig
Forensic Genetics Unit, Institute of Forensic Science "Luís Concheiro", University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
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Ruiz
Department of Forensic Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
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Klintschar
Bioinformatics Research Group, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
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Triki-Fendri
Bioinformatics Research Group, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
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Rebai
Forensic Genetics Unit, Institute of Forensic Science "Luís Concheiro", University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
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Phillips
Forensic Genetics Unit, Institute of Forensic Science "Luís Concheiro", University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
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Lareu
Forensic Genetics Unit, Institute of Forensic Science "Luís Concheiro", University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.|Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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Carracedo
Institute of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
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Schneider
D001208:Asia; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005060:Europe; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D060885:Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000235:genetics*
Ancestry-informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (AI-SNPs); Biogeographic ancestry (BGA); Eurasia; Middle East