Y-Chromosome Polymorphism in United Arab Emirates
Abstract
Human Y chromosome is a specific male marker and it consists of the largest non-recombining segment in human genome that is the hallmark of Y chromosome population-based studies.
This study establishes an extensive Y polymorphism profile of the UAE population and to our knowledge, this is the largest study carried out in the UAE. DNA samples were genotyped for 17 polymorphic STR from 345 unrelated Emirati male.
In UAE population, the analysis of the allele frequency clearly shows that each locus has a predominant allele. It is also apparent that alleles for most loci are clustered over a narrow range where approximately 60% - 80% of the population is sharing a specific allele for the locus.
Moreover, the highest diversity were observed at locus DYS458 = 0.9, DYS385-A = 0.9 and DYS385-B = 0.9. Therefore, they should be considered as the most variable and most informative markers for forensic testing. While, loci with the lower diversity are the least informative loci (i.e. DYS392 which equal 0.437).
The UAE population is largely heterogeneous and a total of 301 different haplotypes were identified. There are 271 unique haplotypes and 22 haplotypes were shared between two individuals. There are three cases where four, five and six individuals are sharing identical haplotype. Moreover, there are three different haplotypes shared by five individuals. This is likely due to the sharing of most common recent ancestors. This brings the discrimination capacity to approximately 90% and haplotype diversity 99.885%. This is fundamental to understand the degree of heterogeneity in UAE population and can reflect the pattern of the migration, geographic influence, and cultural influences. Secondly, the study provide an array of haplotype that can serve as database for forensic uses. To this end, United Arab Emirates population is diverse and are genetically close to neighboring countries. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) show no significant genetic differences within UAE population or population residing the Arabian Gulf region.