Assembly of a large Y-STR haplotype database for the Czech population and investigation of its substructure

Twelve Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STR) (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385a, DYS385b, DYS437, DYS438, and DYS439) included in the PowerPlex Y™ Kit (Promega Corporation, Madison, USA) were studied for 1750 unrelated males living in 14 regions of the Czech Republic. A total of 1148 different haplotypes were found. The overall haplotype diversity (HD) was determined as 0.998. Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) reveals non-significant distances between regions concerning their haplotype distribution, thus allowing to use the whole sample as a representative reference database of the Czech Republic. Median network analysis shows a remarkable bipartite composition of the Czech haplotypes, falling in distinct clusters with Eastern and Western European roots.