Exploring the forensic effectiveness and population genetic differentiation by self-constructed 41 multi-InDel panel in Yunnan Zhuang group

Yunnan is one of the main residences of the Zhuang group which is one of the 55 ethnic minorities in China. At present, there are relatively few researches on population genetics and forensic science of the Yunnan Zhuang group. Therefore, this study used a self-constructed panel containing 41 multi-InDel markers to analyze the genetic polymorphisms of 173 individuals from Yunnan Zhuang group. The results indicated that these 41 multi-InDels in Yunnan Zhuang group were highly polymorphic markers expect for three markers. The cumulative match probability and combined exclusion probability values of the 40 multi-InDels (MI38 marker was excluded) were 8.0671E-26 and 0.9999995959, respectively. In addition, population genetic analyses were performed on genotyping data of 41 multi-InDel markers among the Yunnan Zhuang and 26 reference populations, revealing that the Yunnan Zhuang group was genetically close to the five populations in East Asia. According to the STRUCTURE analysis, the Yunnan Zhuang group presented similar ancestral compositions to the five populations from East Asia, and when the K value was three, the five intercontinental populations showed their different genetic structures. In conclusion, the 41 multi-InDel markers could be used as an effective tool for individual identification and paternity testing of the Zhuang group in Yunnan province, as well as for their ancestry information inference studies.