Population data for 12 Y-chromosome STR loci in a sample from Honduras

Haplotype, allele frequencies and population data of 12 Y-chromosome STR loci DYS19, DYS385, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438 and DYS439 were determined from a sample of 128 unrelated male individuals from Honduras, Central America. A total of 112 haplotypes were identified by the 12 Y-STR loci of which 98 were unique. The haplotype diversity (98.99%) and the proportion of different haplotypes (87.50%) were estimated. Genetic distances were calculated between Honduras and other populations from Southern and Central America, Europe and Africa. The analysis of a Multi Dimensional Scaling (MDS) plot, based on pairwise RST genetic distances, allowed to conclude that Honduras is highly differentiated from the African samples (0.343 ⩽ RST ⩽ 0.620; P = 0.000) and from a Native American sample from Argentina, Tobas (RST = 0.210, P = 0.000). Honduras showed a lower genetic distance to the European cluster (composed by European and South American general population samples from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela) than to the Central American cluster (Mexico and El Salvador).