Genetic diversity in four tribal groups of western India: a survey of polymorphism in 15 STR loci and their application in human identification

Genetic diversity at 15 STR loci: 2 pentanucleotide and 13 tetranucleotide STR loci was determined in four highly endogamous tribal groups, viz. Madia-Gond, Mahadeo-Koli, Katkari and Pawara of western India. The distribution of genotypes at studied 15 loci was found in agreement with expected values according to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The combined power of discrimination of 15 loci was calculated as 0.80 while combined power of exclusion was observed as 0.53 among the studied four tribal groups. The study demonstrate very low heterozygosity and low power of exclusion of the loci of Powerplex 16 among the selected groups indicating less informativeness of the studied markers in human identification testing.