Forensic and population genetic analyses of eighteen non-CODIS miniSTR loci in the Korean population

We analyzed the variation of eighteen miniSTR loci in 411 randomly chosen individuals from Korea to increase the probability that a degraded sample can be typed, as well as to provide an expanded and reliable population database. Six multiplex PCR systems were developed (multiplex I: D1S1677, D2S441 and D4S2364; multiplex II: D10S1248, D14S1434 and D22S1045; multiplex III: D12S391, D16S3253 and D20S161; multiplex IV: D3S4529, D8S1115 and D18S853; multiplex V: D6S1017, D11S4463 and D17S1301; multiplex VI: D5S2500, D9S1122 and D21S1437). Allele frequencies and forensic parameters were calculated to evaluate the suitability and robustness of these non-CODIS miniSTR systems. No significant deviation from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium expectations were observed, except for D4S2364, D5S2500 and D20S161 loci. A multidimensional scaling plot based on allele frequencies of the six miniSTR loci (D1S1677, D2S441, D4S2364, D10S1248, D14S1434 and D22S1045) showed that Koreans appeared to have most genetic affinity with Chinese and Japanese than to other Eurasian populations compared here. The combined probability of match calculated from the 18 miniSTR loci was 2.902 × 10−17, indicating a high degree of polymorphism. Thus, the 18 miniSTR loci can be suitable for recovering useful information for analyzing degraded forensic casework samples and for adding supplementary genetic information for a variety of analyses involving closely related individuals where there is a need for additional genetic information.