Forensic and phylogenetic characterization of 15 autosomal STRs in Hazara population of Pakistan.

In the current study, 217 unrelated individuals of the Hazara population were genotyped for 15 autosomal short tandem repeats to generate parentage and forensic efficacy parameters. Hazaras belong to the Shi'a sect and are recognized by their Turko-Mogholi features. We found that D2S1338 was the most discriminatory locus with a maximum power of exclusion and high value of polymorphism information content. Whilst the Combined Power of Discrimination (CPD), Combined Matching Probability (CMP) and Combined Power of Exclusion (CPE) were 0.999999999999999, 2.76796338879E and 0.999999040733479 respectively. Furthermore, the pattern of genetic affinity with genetically assumed related populations was demonstrated through Heat Map and Phylogenetic analysis, which revealed a great level of genetic closeness of Hazaras with Mongol population and descendants of Genghis Khan. The resulting data can be used for forensic applications and anthropological studies.