Y chromosome SNP haplogroups in Danes, Greenlanders and Somalis

Abstract

We have developed a PCR-based assay with co-amplification of 25 DNA fragments and detection of 35 Y chromosome SNPs with the SNaPshot technique. The Y SNP package can define 34 Y chromosome haplogroups and it can identify the majority of the Y chromosome haplogroups of interest in the populations relevant to forensic genetics in Denmark. We typed 194 Danes, 215 Greenlanders, and 201 Somalis, all males. A total of 21 different haplogroups were identified. In Danes, 11 haplogroups with frequencies from 0.5% to 38% were identified and three of the haplogroups, I, R1b*(xR1b1, R1b6, R1b8) and R1a1*(xR1a1b), were found in ∼91% of the population. In Greenlanders, 10 haplogroups with frequencies from 0.5% to 50% were identified and the haplogroups P*(xQ3a, R1), R1b*(xR1b1, R1b6, R1b8) and I, were found in ∼86% of the population. In Somalis, 14 haplogroups with frequencies from 0.5% to 79% were identified and the haplogroups E3b1*(xE3b1b) and K*(xN3, O, P) were found in ∼88% of the population. The distribution of haplogroups was compared to the distribution found in 65 males from West Africa.