Objective: To study the distribution of haplotypes of Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STR) loci among three ethnic minorities from Guizhou, China.
Methods: Twenty four Y-STR loci of 174 unrelated males were amplified with a Microreader(TM)24Y Direct ID System kit. Capillary electrophoresis was carried out on an ABI 3100 Genetic Analyzer, and the data was analyzed with GeneMapper software.
Results: Seventy six haplotypes were identified for the 24 Y-STR loci among the three ethnic minorities, including 13 from the Qiangs, 35 from the Manchurians, and 28 from the Shes, with the corresponding Haplotype Diversity (HD) being 0.7327, 0.9578, and 0.9344. Genetic distance between the Shes and Qiangs was relatively close, whilst that for Manchurians was relatively far.
Conclusion: Analysis of the genetic characteristics and relationship of the three ethnic minorities from Guizhou can provide a reference for the study of their origin, evolution and patrilineal fusion.