Genetic Diversity in Gorkhas: an Autosomal STR Study

Kiran Preet,Sayar Singh,Toshi Jain,L Robert Varte,Shweta Rawat,Pankaj Shrivastava,Inderjeet Singh,Seema Malhotra,Soma Sarkar

doi:10.1038/srep32494

Abstract

Genotyping of highly polymorphic autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) markers is a potent tool for elucidating genetic diversity. In the present study, fifteen autosomal STR markers were analyzed in unrelated healthy male Gorkha individuals (n = 98) serving in the Indian Army by using AmpFlSTR Identifiler Plus PCR Amplification Kit. In total, 138 alleles were observed with corresponding allele frequencies ranging from 0.005 to 0.469. The studied loci were in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE). Heterozygosity ranged from 0.602 to 0.867. The most polymorphic locus was Fibrinogen Alpha (FGA) chain which was also the most discriminating locus as expected. Neighbor Joining (NJ) tree and principal component analysis (PCA) plot clustered the Gorkhas with those of Nepal and other Tibeto-Burman population while lowlander Indian population formed separate cluster substantiating the closeness of the Gorkhas with the Tibeto-Burman linguistic phyla. Furthermore, the dataset of STR markers obtained in the study presents a valuable information source of STR DNA profiles from personnel for usage in disaster victim identification in military exigencies and adds to the Indian database of military soldiers and military hospital repository.

Highlights

The Gorkha soldiers are a dominant force in the Indian Army who have completed 200 years in the Armed Forces since their integration on April 24, 1815
The present study investigates i) the genetic status of the Gorkhas of Tibeto-Burman linguistic phyla serving the Indian Army based on a set of 15 autosomal microsatellite (STR) markers, ii) the extent of affiliation with ethno-linguistically close population of Nepal, Tibet and other global Asian populations belonging to the Tibeto-Burman linguistic family and iii) construction of Indian soldier DNA dataset for human identification for military purposes
The most polymorphic locus of Fibrinogen Alpha (FGA) was as was expected, the most discriminating in the population

Summary

Introduction

The Gorkha ( spelt as Gurkha) soldiers are a dominant force in the Indian Army who have completed 200 years in the Armed Forces since their integration on April 24, 1815. They are courageous in battle and have won many gallantry awards and military honors. The present study investigates i) the genetic status of the Gorkhas of Tibeto-Burman linguistic phyla serving the Indian Army based on a set of 15 autosomal microsatellite (STR) markers, ii) the extent of affiliation with ethno-linguistically close population of Nepal, Tibet and other global Asian populations belonging to the Tibeto-Burman linguistic family and iii) construction of Indian soldier DNA dataset for human identification for military purposes

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Conclusion