Typing of two Middle Eastern populations with the Precision ID Ancestry Panel

doi:10.1016/j.fsigss.2017.09.133

Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series

Volume 6, December 2017, Pages e301-e302

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigss.2017.09.133 Get rights and content

Abstract

Ancestry informative markers have a great potential for ancestry inference in forensic genetic casework. However, applying ancestry inference in casework requires sufficient allele frequency data on as many populations as possible to allow the determination of biogeographical origin. Therefore, Turkish and Iranian individuals were SNP typed with Massively Parallel Sequencing with the Precision ID Ancestry Panel (Thermo Fisher Scientific) to assess whether it was possible to differentiate geographically proximate populations in the Middle East using this kit. Analyses showed that it were not possible to separate the two populations and neither was it possible to separate them from European and South-Central Asian populations. The two Middle Eastern populations were highly admixed with components from both Europe and South-Central Asia. Thus, it is important to identify genetic markers that are characteristic of the various Middle Eastern populations.

Introduction

The use of single nucleotide polymorphisms to infer biogeographical origin of individuals is promising and potentially useful within the field of forensic genetics [1]. Presently, the identification of the ancestry of individuals from the Middle East (ME) is a challenge. Due to the history of migration in this geographical area, the Middle East has a high degree of admixture between Europe and South-Central Asia (SC Asia). Additionally, the Middle East is located in the middle of the NW-SE Eurasia allele frequency cline further complicating the differentiation [2]. To apply ancestry informative markers in forensic genetics, it is necessary to calculate the weight of the evidence. The program GeneGeographer was developed for this purpose [3]. GenoGeographer calculates a database score (DB score) that indicates whether the individual belongs to at least one of the reference populations in the database. If this is the case, it calculates the population likelihood for each reference population that allows the user to interpret the significance of the ancestry inference. We analysed two populations from the Middle East region, Turks and Iranians, using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel in order to investigate if the kit could identify the correct ancestry of the investigated individuals.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

Samples from 100 Turks and 93 Iranians were typed for the 165 ancestry informative markers included in the Precision ID Ancestry Panel [Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, USA]. PCR amplification and sequencing was done as described in [4], [5]. Data analyses was performed using the software and protocol described in [4], [5]. Five individuals from each population were analysed using the GenoGeographer software [3].

Results and discussion

None of the populations showed deviations from HWE in any of the 165 markers after Bonferroni correction for multiple testing. STRUCTURE analysis (Fig. 1) revealed that the two populations analysed in this work appeared to be admixed with major contributions from European and SC Asian populations. This was in accordance with GenoGeographer results and corresponded with the geographical location and the history of these groups [2], [6].

Of the 10 individuals analysed with GenoGeographer, one

Conclusion

The populations from Turkey or Iran typed in this study could not be distinguished from each other or from European or SC Asian populations. STRUCTURE and GenoGeographer analyses indicated that the Turks and Iranians are admixed populations. Addition of more Middle Eastern populations to the reference database may increase the prediction strength of the most likely population of origin. However, it will most likely require a larger set of SNPs and/or a second tier panel to separate ME

Conflict of interest

None.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the colleagues, who collected the samples at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen, and Professor Kenneth Kidd and colleagues for kindly providing data for the population comparisons.

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Typing of two Middle Eastern populations with the Precision ID Ancestry Panel

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Materials and methods

Results and discussion

Conclusion

Conflict of interest

Acknowledgements

Forensic Sci. Int. Genet.

Forensic Sci. Int. Genet.

Forensic Sci. Int. Genet.