U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Micro-Geographic Distribution of Y-Chromosomal Variation in the Central-Western European Region Brabant

NCJ Number
234189
Journal
Forensic Science International: Genetics Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2011 Pages: 95-99
Author(s)
Maarten H.D. Larmuseau; Nancy Vanderheyden; Manon Jacobs; Monique Coomans; Lucie Larno; Ronny Decorte
Date Published
March 2011
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This study reviews future issues in the forensic application of the haploid Y-chromosome (Y-chr).
Abstract
One of the future issues in the forensic application of the haploid Y-chromosome (Y-chr) is surveying the distribution of the Y-chr variation on a micro-geographical scale. Studies on such a scale require observing Y-chr variation on a high resolution, high sampling efforts and reliable genealogical data of all DNA-donors. In the current study the authors optimized this framework by surveying the micro-geographical distribution of the Y-chr variation in the central-western European region named Brabant. The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries containing three contemporary Belgian provinces and one Dutch province (Noord-Brabant). Four hundred seventy seven males from 5 a priori defined regions within Brabant were selected based on their genealogical ancestry (known pedigree at least before 1800). The Y-haplotypes were determined based on 37 Y-STR loci and the finest possible level of substructuring was defined according to the latest published Y-chr phylogenetic tree. In total, 8 Y-haplogroups and 32 different subhaplogroups were observed, whereby 70 percent of all participants belonged to only 4 subhaplogroups: R1b1b2a1 (R-U106), R1b1b2a2* (R-P312*), R1b1b2a2g (R-U152) and I1* (I-M253*). Significant micro-geographical differentiation within Brabant was detected between the Dutch (Noord-Brabant) vs. the Flemish regions based on the differences in (sub)haplogroup frequencies but not based on Y-STR variation within the main subhaplogroups. A clear gradient was found with higher frequencies of R1b1b2 (R-M269) chromosomes in the northern vs. southern regions, mainly related to a trend in the frequency of R1b1b2a1 (R-U106). (Published Abstract)