Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.
Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.
Mol Genet Genomics. 2024 Aug 22;299(1):80. doi: 10.1007/s00438-024-02175-w.
Austroasiatic (AA) speakers constitute around 4% of the population of Thailand, while the majority (89.4%) speak Kra-Dai (KD) languages. Previous forensic and population genetic studies in various Thai populations have employed a limited number of short tandem repeats (STRs). This study aims to expand the investigation of the genetic makeup of AA populations in Thailand and their relationship to KD populations using a larger number of autosomal STRs with the VeriFiler™ Plus PCR Amplification Kit. We generated 593 new genotypes from AA-speaking groups and combined them with previously reported data from AA and KD groups. A total of 1,129 genotypes across 23 STR loci were used to construct the largest allelic frequency profile for Thai and Lao populations. However, several loci deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, likely due to the reduced genetic diversity in some highland populations, which should be considered in forensic investigations. Beyond forensic applications, our findings reveal genetic differences between AA-speaking groups in Northern and Northeastern Thailand. The AA groups from Northeastern Thailand exhibit greater genetic homogeneity and diversity, likely due to population interactions. In contrast, reduced diversity and increased heterogeneity in AA groups from Northern Thailand are possibly driven by genetic drift and cultural and geographic isolation. In conclusion, we emphasize the usefulness of increasing the number of autosomal STRs in forensic and anthropological genetic studies. Additional Y-STR and X-STR data from various AA-speaking groups in Thailand would further enhance and strengthen forensic STR databases in the region.
澳斯特罗亚细亚语（AA）使用者约占泰国人口的 4%，而多数人（89.4%）说的是高棉语（KD）。以前对泰国不同人群进行的法医和群体遗传学研究只采用了有限数量的短串联重复序列（STR）。本研究旨在通过使用更多的常染色体 STR 与 VeriFiler™ Plus PCR 扩增试剂盒，扩大对泰国 AA 人群遗传构成及其与 KD 人群关系的调查。我们从讲 AA 语的群体中产生了 593 个新基因型，并将其与之前报道的 AA 和 KD 群体的数据相结合。总共使用了 23 个 STR 座的 1129 个基因型来构建泰国和老挝人群的最大等位基因频率图谱。然而，一些位点偏离了 Hardy-Weinberg 平衡，这可能是由于一些高地人群遗传多样性降低所致，在法医调查中应考虑这一点。除了法医应用之外，我们的研究结果还揭示了泰国北部和东北部讲 AA 语群体之间的遗传差异。泰国东北部的 AA 群体表现出更高的遗传同质性和多样性，这可能是由于群体之间的相互作用所致。相比之下，泰国北部 AA 群体的多样性降低和异质性增加可能是由遗传漂变和文化及地理隔离所致。总之，我们强调在法医和人类学遗传学研究中增加常染色体 STR 数量的有用性。来自泰国各种讲 AA 语群体的更多 Y-STR 和 X-STR 数据将进一步增强和加强该地区的法医 STR 数据库。
