Unrelated People Research Articles

Genetic susceptibility to thalidomide embryopathy in humans: Study of candidate development genes.

Thalidomide is a drug used worldwide for several indications, but the molecular mechanisms of its teratogenic property are not fully understood. Studies in animal models suggest the oxidative stress, the inhibition of angiogenesis, and the binding to E3-ubiquitin ligase complex as mechanisms by which thalidomide can change the expression of genes important to embryonic development. In this study, seven polymorphisms in genes related to development (FGF8, FGF10, BMP4, SHH, TP53, TP63, and TP73) were analyzed in people with thalidomide embryopathy (TE) and compared to people without malformations. The sample consisted of 36 people with TE and 135 unrelated and nonsyndromic people who had their DNA genotyped by PCR real-time. Although no allelic or genotypic differences were observed between the groups, we hypothesized that other regions in these genes and related genes may play an important role in thalidomide teratogenesis, which is known to have a genetic contribution. Identifying such molecular mechanisms is essential for the development of a molecule that will be analogue to thalidomide but safe enough to avoid the emergence of new cases of TE.

Mutation analysis of the COL7A1 gene and prenatal diagnosis in two families with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa

Objective To detect mutations of the COL7A1 gene in 2 families with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) , and to perform prenatal diagnosis during the pregnancy of patients′ mothers. Methods Clinical data were collected from 2 patients with RDEB. DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood samples from the patients, their parents and 100 unrelated healthy people who served as controls. PCR was performed to amplify all the 118 exons of the COL7A1 gene followed by DNA sequencing. After identification of pathogenic mutations, amniotic fluid cells were obtained by amniocentesis during the next pregnancy of the patients′ mothers, and genomic DNA was extracted from uncultured or cultured amniotic fluid cells followed by amplification and DNA sequencing to detect mutations in the COL7A1 gene. The results were compared with patients′ results for prenatal diagnosis. After delivery, venous blood samples were collected from the neonates to detect mutations in the COL7A1 gene. All the results were verified by bidirectional sequencing. Results Compound heterozygous mutations in the COL7A1 gene were identified in the 2 patients. Two heterozygous mutations (c.5453G > A and c.6781C > T) in the COL7A1 gene were found in case 1, which resulted in the p.G1818D mutation and the formation of a premature termination codon p.R2261Efs*25. Additionally, the c.5453G > A and c.6781C > T mutations were inherited from his father and mother respectively. Another 2 heterozygous mutations (c.6205C > T and c.8272_8272delG) in the COL7A1 gene were identified in case 2, which led to the p.R2069C and p.V2758Sfs*28 mutations in encoded proteins, and the c.6205C > T and c.8272_8272delG mutations were inherited from the patient′s father and mother respectively. None of the above mutations in the COL7A1 gene was found in the uncultured or cultured amniotic fluid cells, which were collected from the 2 patients′ mothers during the next pregnancy. After birth, the neonates showed normal skin and mucosa without blisters, and genetic testing showed none of the above mutations in the COL7A1 gene in the neonates. Conclusion Compound heterozygous mutations in the COL7A1 gene were found in the 2 patients with RDEB, and prenatal diagnosis was successfully performed in the 2 patients′ mothers during the next pregnancy. Key words: Epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica; Prenatal diagnosis; DNA mutational analysis; Collagen type VII; Gene, COL7A1

Correlation between HLA-DB1 genes and susceptibility to echinococcosis in Tibetan population in Tibetan Plateau

To determine the susceptibility genes and resistance genes in HLA-DRB1 alleles in Tibetan patients with cystic and alveolar hydatid diseases, so as to provide the references for the research of the genetic characteristics and infection mechanism of Tibetan hydatid diseases. The case control method was applied. The Tibetan patients with cystic and alveolar hydatid diseases (63 and 73 cases respectively) in Yushu and Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and unrelated healthy people (60 cases) in this area were selected as the study subjects. The polymerase chain reaction-sequence based typing (PCR-SBT) technique was applied for genotyping of HLA-DRB1, and the comparison of the gene frequency. The frequency of HLA-DRB1*04 in the alveolar/cystic echinococcosis group was lower than that in the control group ( χ2 = 4.71, 4.31, both P < 0.05). HLA-DRB1*04 genotypes may be associated with the resistance of cystic and alveolar echinococcosis and its resistance genes.

A Comparative Study of Different Template Matching Techniques for Twin Iris Recognition

Biometric recognition is gaining attention as most of the organization is seeking for a more secure verification method for user access and other security application. There are a lot of biometric systems that exist which are iris, hand geometry and fingerprint recognition. In biometric system, iris recognition is marked as one of the most reliable and accurate biometric in term of identification. However, the performance of iris recognition is still doubted whether the iris recognition can generate higher accuracy when involving twin iris data. So, specific research by using twin data only needs to be done to measure the performance of recognition. Besides that, a comparative study is carried out using two template matching technique which are Hamming Distance and Euclidean Distance to measure the dissimilarity between the two iris template. From the comparison of the technique, better template matching technique also can be determined. The experimental result showed that iris recognition can distinguish twin as it can distinguish two different, unrelated people as the result obtained showed the good separation between intra and interclass and both techniques managed to obtain high accuracy. From the comparison of template matching technique, Hamming Distance is chosen as better technique with low False Rejection Rate, low False Acceptance Rate and high Total Success Rate with the value of 2.5%, 8.75% and 96.48% respectively.

Mutation analysis of the ATP2A2 gene in a Kazakh family with Darier′s disease

Objective To analyze mutations in the ATP2A2 gene in a Kazakh family with Darier′s disease. Methods Clinical data were collected from 49 members from a family with Darier′s disease, and peripheral blood samples were obtained from 44 family members and 100 unrelated healthy people. Genomic DNA was extracted from these blood samples. PCR and DNA sequencing were performed to detect mutations in the ATP2A2 gene. Results Darier′s disease was inherited in an autosomal dominant manner in this family. A G→A heterozygous mutation (1288-1G→A) was identified at position 1288-1 at the splice site in exon 12 of the ATP2A2 gene in 11 patients in this family, but not in 33 healthy members or 100 healthy controls. Conclusion Darier′s disease in this family may be caused by the heterozygous mutation (1288-1G→A) at the splice site in exon 12 of the ATP2A2 gene. Key words: Darier disease; DNA mutational analysis; Pedigree; Gene, ATP2A2; Kazakh

Genetic influences on the human oral microbiome

BackgroundThe human oral microbiome is formed early in development. Its composition is influenced by environmental factors including diet, substance use, oral health, and overall health and disease. The influence of human genes on the composition and stability of the oral microbiome is still poorly understood. We studied both environmental and genetic characteristics on the oral microbiome in a large twin sample as well as in a large cohort of unrelated individuals. We identify several significantly heritable features of the oral microbiome. The heritability persists in twins even when their cohabitation changes. The heritability of these traits correlates with the cumulative genetic contributions of over half a million single nucleotide sequence variants measured in a different population of unrelated individuals. Comparison of same-sex and opposite sex cotwins showed no significant differences. We show that two new loci on chromosomes 7 and 12 are associated with the most heritable traits.ResultsAn analysis of 752 twin pairs from the Colorado Twin Registry, shows that the beta-diversity of monozygotic twins is significantly lower than for dizygotic or unrelated individuals. This is independent of cohabitation status. Intraclass correlation coefficients of nearly all taxa examined were higher for MZ than DZ twin pairs. A comparison of individuals sampled over 2-7 years confirmed previous reports that the oral microbiome remains relatively more stable in individuals over that time than to unrelated people. Twin modeling shows that a number of microbiome phenotypes were more than 50% heritable consistent with the hypothesis that human genes influence microbial populations. To identify loci that could influence microbiome phenotypes, we carried out an unbiased GWAS analysis which identified one locus on chromosome 7 near the gene IMMPL2 that reached genome-wide significance after correcting for multiple testing. Another locus on chromosome 12 near the non-coding RNA gene INHBA-AS1 achieved genome-wide significance when analyzed using KGG4 that sums SNP significance across coding genes.DiscussionUsing multiple methods, we have demonstrated that some aspects of the human oral microbiome are heritable and that with a relatively small sample we were able to identify two previously unidentified loci that may be involved.

Allele frequencies in Azuay Population in Ecuador.

One hundred and eighty-two samples of unrelated people who requested the paternity test at the Molecular Biology and Genetics Laboratory of the Catholic University of Cuenca-Ecuador in the province of Azuay were studied, except for the D1S1656 (180 samples) and SE33 (89 samples) markers. The STRs D22S1045, D3S1358, VWA, D16S539, D2S1338, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D19S433, TH01, FGA, D1S1656, D12S391, D10S1248, D2S441, and SE33 were typed from blood samples, amplifying the DNA by polymerase chain reactions and electrophoresis. The allele frequencies were estimated by simple counting and the impartial heterozygosity was also calculated. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium theory was studied. In the results obtained with the analyzed markers, the largest number of alleles can be observed in the markers with the highest polymorphic information content (PIC): D21S11, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, D18S51, FGA, D1S1656, and D12S391. In addition, SE33 was analyzed in certain samples, showing as result a high PIC, in fact, the highest one because of its great polymorphisc characteristic. Likewise, these markers are the ones providing the highest probability of discrimination and the lowest probability of coincidence.

The FOXO1 Gene-Obesity Interaction Increases the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Chinese Han Population.

Here, we aimed to study the effect of the forkhead box O1-insulin receptor substrate 2 (FOXO1-IRS2) gene interaction and the FOXO1 and IRS2 genes-environment interaction for the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in a Chinese Han population. We genotyped 7 polymorphism sites of FOXO1 gene and IRS2 gene in 780 unrelated Chinese Han people (474 cases of T2DM, 306 cases of healthy control). The risk of T2DM in individuals with AA genotype for rs7986407 and CC genotype for rs4581585 in FOXO1 gene was 2.092 and 2.57 times higher than that with GG genotype (odds ratio [OR] = 2.092; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.178–3.731; P = 0.011) and TT genotype (OR = 2.571; 95% CI = 1.404–4.695; P = 0.002), respectively. The risk of T2DM in individuals with GG genotype for Gly1057Asp in IRS2 gene was 1.42 times higher than that with AA genotype (OR = 1.422; 95% CI = 1.037–1.949; P = 0.029). The other 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) had no significant association with T2DM (P > 0.05). Multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) analysis showed that the interaction between SNPs rs7986407 and rs4325426 in FOXO1 gene and waist was the best model confirmed by interaction analysis, closely associating with T2DM. There was an increased risk for T2DM in the case of non-obesity with genotype combined AA/CC, AA/AC or AG/AA for rs7986407 and rs4325426, and obesity with genotype AA for rs7986407 or AA for rs4325426 (OR = 3.976; 95% CI = 1.156–13.675; P value from sign test [Psign] = 0.025; P value from permutation test [Pperm] = 0.000–0.001). Together, this study indicates an association of FOXO1 and IRS2 gene polymorphisms with T2DM in Chinese Han population, supporting FOXO1-obesity interaction as a key factor for the risk of T2DM.

The Association of SMUG1 Gene Polymorphism with Age-related Macular Degeneration in Northwestern Iran

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss and debilitating disease in old age, which involves the central retina/macula among elderly patients. The genetic and environmental factors have important role in this multifactorial disease. Oxidative stress and DNA damages would have important impact on the onset and progression of AMD. In this study, the possible association of c.-31A>G (rs3087404) polymorphism in the promoter region of SMUG1 gene with AMD disease was investigated. Fifty five AMD patients and 130 healthy age-, gender- and ethnicity-matched unrelated people as control group were genotyped by restriction fragment length polymorphism PCR (RFLP-PCR). Both groups were from Northwest of Iran (Tabriz). Statistical analysis showed a significant association of AG genotype of this polymorphism with AMD. These results suggest a possible protective effect of this genotype for AMD disease ( P =0.02, OR=0.574) among patients from Northwest of Iran. This genotype was observed more frequently in controls compared to the patients (59.23% v s 45.45%).

Association of the -844G>A polymorphism in the catalase gene with the increased risk of essential hypertension in smokers

To investigate whether the functionally relevant -844G>A promotor polymorphism in the catalase (CAT) gene is associated with the development of essential hypertension (EH). The investigation enrolled 2,339 unrelated ethnic Russian people, including 1,269 EH patients and 770 apparently healthy individuals. Genotyping of CAT -844G>A (rs769214) polymorphism was performed using a TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. The -844A allele (odds ratio (OR)=1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04 to 1.64; р=0.02) and the -844AA genotype (OR=1.41; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.94; р=0.03) were found to be related to a higher risk of EH in the smokers. No association was found between this polymorphism and EH risk in the non-smokers. Smoking is a predisposing factor for development of EH in CAT -844AA genotype carriers.

Sex Differences in mRNA Expression of Reduced Folate Carrier‐1, Folypolyformyl Glutamate Synthase, and γ‐Glutamyl Hydrolase in a Healthy Japanese Population

Sex differences in the prevalence of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are well known, but little is known about those differences in relation to therapeutic response. Reduced folate carrier-1 (RFC-1), folypolyformyl glutamate synthase (FPGS), and γ-glutamyl hydrolase (GGH) are important transporters and enzymes that convert methotrexate (MTX) in the body. This study investigated the sex differences in mRNA expression of RFC-1, FPGS, and GGH in 190 unrelated healthy Japanese people. The genotypes and mRNA expression were determined using the real-time PCR method. Significant differences between men and women were observed in RFC-1, FPGS, and GGH mRNA expression. The mRNA expression of FPGS and GGH was greater in women than that in men, but the expression of RFC-1 was less in the former than the latter. In stratified analysis by genotype, significant differences in sex-specific mRNA expression were observed in G/G of FPGS, C/C of GGH 452, and C/C of GGH -401. All showed greater mRNA expression in women than in men. In the 5 single-nucleotide polymorphisms RFC-1 80G>A, RFC-1 -43T>C, FPGS 1994G>A, GGH 452C>T, and GGH -401C>T examined, the FPGS 1994 G/G (1.46-fold), GGH 452 C/C (2.16-fold), and GGH -401 C/C (2.68-fold) genotypes showed significantly higher mRNA expression in women than in men. Healthy Japanese adults in this study showed sex-specific differences in mRNA expression that differed among RFC-1, FPGS, and GGH. Therefore, the relationship between genetic polymorphisms and mRNA expression including sex differences might contribute to the variation in the efficacy/toxicity of MTX in patients with RA.

Open source data reveals connection between online and on-street protest activity.

There is enormous interest in inferring features of human behavior in the real world from potential digital footprints created online - particularly at the collective level, where the sheer volume of online activity may indicate some changing mood within the population regarding a particular topic. Civil unrest is a prime example, involving the spontaneous appearance of large crowds of otherwise unrelated people on the street on a certain day. While indicators of brewing protests might be gleaned from individual online communications or account content (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) societal concerns regarding privacy can make such probing a politically delicate issue. Here we show that instead, a simple low-level indicator of civil unrest can be obtained from online data at the aggregate level through Google Trends or similar tools. Our study covers countries across Latin America during 2011-2014 in which diverse civil unrest events took place. In each case, we find that the combination of the volume and momentum of searches from Google Trends surrounding pairs of simple keywords, tailored for the specific cultural setting, provide good indicators of periods of civil unrest. This proof-of-concept study motivates the search for more geographically specific indicators based on geo-located searches at the urban level.

HVMAT2: A Target of Individualized Medication for Parkinson's Disease.

Vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) is responsible for sequestering cytosolically toxic dopamine into intracellular secretory vesicles. Animal genetic studies have suggested that reduced VMAT2 activity contributes to the genetic etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD), but this role has not been established in humans. Based on human genetic association and meta-analysis, we first confirm the human VMAT2 (hVMAT2 or SLC18A2) promoter as a risk factor for PD in both family and unrelated US white people: marker rs363324 at -11.5 kb in the hVMAT2 promoter is reproducibly associated with PD in a cohort of nuclear families (p = 0.04506 in early-onset PD) and 3 unrelated US white people (meta-analysis p = 0.01879). In SH-SY5Y cells, low activity-associated hVMAT2 promoter confers high methylpiperidinopyrazole iodide cytotoxicity, which is likely attributed to functional polymorphisms bound by nuclear proteins. Interestingly, treatments with the dopamine neuron-protecting agent puerarin upregulates the promoter activity in a haplotype- and cell line-dependent manner. These pharmacogenetic findings suggest that hVMAT2 could be a risk factor and imply it as a target of genetic medications for PD.

Association between AUTS2 haplotypes and alcohol dependence in a Japanese population.

Recent genome-wide analysis has indicated that the autism susceptibility candidate 2 (AUTS2) gene is involved in the regulation of alcohol consumption. We hypothesised that AUTS2 might be associated with the development of alcohol dependence. Therefore, in this exploratory study, we compared the genotype and allele frequencies of the polymorphisms rs6943555 and rs9886351 in the AUTS2 gene between patients with alcohol dependence and healthy control subjects living in a Japanese provincial prefecture. We also examined whether or not the haplotypes consisting of these polymorphisms are related to alcohol dependence. The subjects of this study consisted of 64 patients with alcohol dependence and 75 unrelated healthy people. The AUTS2 genotypes were determined by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method. No significant differences in the genotype and allele frequencies of the polymorphisms AUTS2 rs6943555 and rs9886351 were found between alcohol dependence and control subjects. On the other hand, the frequencies of the AUTS2 haplotypes were significantly different between them, and the rs6943555 and rs9886351 A-A haplotype was associated with alcohol dependence (p=0.0187). This suggests that the rs6943555 and rs9886351 A-A haplotype might affect the vulnerability to alcohol dependence pathogenesis. Further studies are needed to confirm the reproducibility of the results of this study with increased numbers of subjects.

I am a Person: Ego Development and Identity Issues with African Americans

Present day Americans–especially the middle class–have little concern for social obligation or tradition, and so are less constrained from mingling with unrelated people. Indeed, since they move so frequently to strange neighbourhoods; they need to be able to create new support networks quickly but not to become too attached emotionally to the people in them, since no one knows when anyone will be moving on. Social media and advances in technology have accelerated these processes. Americans we might say are approaching an historical stage with a desire to be self-defining that has produced a disintegrated or alienated consciousness. What defines this consciousness is its antagonism to the external power of society–the wish to be free of imposed social circumstances. The dangers of this position are that: 1) We may devolve into a society in which narcissistic preoccupations are pervasive; 2) Due to competition over more limited resources a social balkanization or fragmentation becomes rampant–divisions along multicultural factors become rallying forces; or 3) We do not grow into a new ethos, and remain condemned to the stagnation of the personality ethics. The above forms of human blindness stem from the same root–an inability to recognize the notion of difference as a dynamic human force, one which is enriching rather than threatening to the defined self when there are shared goals. We must be poised ready for technological, economic, social, and even political change–the one thing we can be sure of in the short-term but more so long-term fate of this country.

A Pipeline for Classifying Relationships Using Dense SNP/SNV Data and Putative Pedigree Information.

When genome-wide association studies (GWAS) or sequencing studies are performed on family-based datasets, the genotype data can be used to check the structure of putative pedigrees. Even in datasets of putatively unrelated people, close relationships can often be detected using dense single-nucleotide polymorphism/variant (SNP/SNV) data. A number of methods for finding relationships using dense genetic data exist, but they all have certain limitations, including that they typically use average genetic sharing, which is only a subset of the available information. Here, we present a set of approaches for classifying relationships in GWAS datasets or large-scale sequencing datasets. We first propose an empirical method for detecting identity by descent segments in close relative pairs using un-phased dense SNP data and demonstrate how that information can assist in building a relationship classifier. We then develop a strategy to take advantage of putative pedigree information to enhance classification accuracy. Our methods are tested and illustrated with two datasets from two distinct populations. Finally, we propose classification pipelines for checking and identifying relationships in datasets containing a large number of small pedigrees.

Supernatural and secular monitors promote human cooperation only if they remind of punishment

People’s large-scale cooperation with genetically unrelated people is widely assumed to lie beyond the scope of standard evolutionary mechanisms like kin selection and reciprocal altruism and to require mechanisms specific to human sociality. The emergence of the idea of being monitored by supernatural agents who can punish social norm violations has been proposed as one solution to this problem. In parallel, secular authorities can have similar functions with those of religious authority based on supernatural agents in today’s secularized world. However, it is not clear whether it is the idea of religious or secular authority in general or the punishing aspects of both institutions in particular that leads to increased cooperation and prosociality. Study 1 showed that people reported more prosocial intentions after being implicitly primed with punishing religious and secular authorities (versus non-punishing ones or a neutral one) in a scrambled sentence task. Study 2 showed that explicitly priming the punishing aspects of God (versus the non-punishing aspects or a neutral prime) led to an increase in the level of prosocial intentions. The findings support the supernatural punishment hypothesis and suggest a similar mechanism for the influence of secular authority on prosociality. More generally, the findings are consistent with views that punishment, whether real or imagined, played an important role in the evolution of large-scale cooperation in the human species.

About the power of biostatistics in sibling analysis-comparison of empirical and simulated data.

The determination of potential sibship is a common task in routine kinship analysis, but often the putative parents are not available for analysis anymore. Then, a sibling analysis has to be conducted investigating only the potential siblings, thus reducing the power of the conclusion. In an attempt to determine meaningfulness of biostatistical calculations, 346 dizygotic twin pairs, 30 confirmed half siblings, and 112 unrelated people (to generate 6216 pair comparisons) were studied, all genetically typed using at least the Powerplex® 16 STRs. From every pair, the probabilities for a full sibship (identical parents) and half sibship (different fathers) were calculated using a commercially available computer program. Additionally, we simulated marker data for one million pairs of full sibs, half sibs, and unrelated persons each. Ninety-five percent of full sibling pairs demonstrated a likelihood ratio (LR) > 9 (W-value > 90 %) and less than 4% of these showed a LR < 3 (W-value < 75%) for full sibship after analysis of 15 STRs. The results for half siblings are less unambiguous. Here, only 57% achieved a LR > 9 and 23% a LR < 3. Regarding the unrelated pairs, more than 90% had a LR < 1/9 and only 2% reached a LR > 9. All in all, our results show that 15 to 20 STRs have sufficient power for analyses in kinship. Moreover, our data provide a statistical basis for the determination of the information content of a LR/W-value in a sibship case. Investigating an identical number of full siblings and unrelated pairs, it could be shown that 92% of pairs with a LR > 9 for full sibship probability really are full siblings. So, setting a cutoff level for full sibship at LR > 9, less than 10% of pairs will be wrongly assumed as full siblings even though they are unrelated.

Psychological Vulnerability of Residents of Communities Affected by the Hebei Spirit Oil Spill.

Psychological health is an important issue after disasters. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of psychological symptoms among 993 residents of Taean District in South Korea after the Hebei Spirit oil spill and to examine determinants of vulnerability in residents' psychological symptoms. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS), depression, suicidal ideation, and anxiety were assessed by questionnaires, and the responses were analyzed by using the survey analysis considering the sampling frame. Among the study subjects, the symptom prevalences of PTS, depression, suicidal ideation, and anxiety were 19.5%, 22.0%, 2.3%, and 4.2%, respectively, and symptoms were higher in people who were female, were older, were less educated, and had lower family income. People with fishery or related occupations compared to those with unrelated livelihoods and people residing in the vicinity of the oil band in the contaminated coastline showed additively increased symptom risks of PTS. Risk of suicidal ideation was predominantly increased in people with fishery or related occupations compared with those with unrelated livelihoods. Social supports, including compensation for income loss and community mental health programs, and longer follow-up studies are needed for residents in the communities affected by the Hebei Spirit oil spill.

Haplotype data of 23 Y-chromosome markers in Minnan Han Chinese and comparison with those of 12 Y-chromosome markers.

We genotyped 23 Y-STR loci (DYS576, DYS389I, DYS448, DYS389II, DYS19, DYS391, DYS481, DYS549, DYS533, DYS438, DYS437, DYS570, DYS635, DYS390, DYS439, DYS392, DYS643, DYS393, DYS458, DYS385a/b, DYS456, and GATA-H4) in a sample of 109 unrelated male Chinese people residing in Minnan area and compared the results with those from our previous study on 12 Y-STR. The haplotype diversity and the discrimination capacity of the 23 Y-STR reached 0.9903 and 0.9725, respectively, and the genetic diversity for each locus ranged from 0.321 (DYS391) to 0.955 (DYS385). Besides, we observed a strong correlation between the number of Y-STR markers and the substantial improvement of forensic parameters used to discriminate between individuals. The results indicated that these highly polymorphic Y-STR markers were useful for human identification in forensic cases and paternity tests within the Minnan Han Chinese population.