Allele frequencies of mitochondrial DNA HVR III 514–524 (CA) n dinucleotide repeats in the Urali Kuruman tribal population of South India

Abstract

Abstract Background To evaluate the 514–524 (CA) n dinucleotide repeats/allele of the mtDNA hypervariable region III in the Urali Kuruman tribe of Southern India. Blood samples were randomly collected from 100 healthy unrelated individuals, and complete mtDNA control region was amplified and sequenced by the Sanger sequencing method. Findings The present study revealed the presence of nucleotide insertion and deletion of C and A (CA/AC) at position 514–524 in 86 samples. Insertion of 1AC (14%) and 2AC (20%) and deletion of 1CA (49%) and 2CA (3%) were detected. A statistical estimate for this population showed a genetic diversity of 0.6866 and random match probability of 0.3202, and the discrimination power calculated was 0.6798. Conclusion This study will be beneficial for personal identification and in forensic investigation casework.

Keywords

• mtDNA
• HVR III
• (CA) n repeats
• Tribe
• South India