DNA profiling of the VNTR locus D2S44 in the population of Madras City and in the tribal Kotas of the Nilgiri Hills, south India.

Allele frequency distribution of the VNTR locus D2S44 was studied in Tamil Nadu (South India) population. Randomly chosen individuals (Tamils of the plains, Madras City; N = 142) were tested for HaeIII-generated polymorphism detectable by probe YNH24, and the allele sizes and frequencies were determined. Heterozygosity (93.6%) observed in the Tamils is comparable to that of other populations; the size and frequency distribution of alleles, however, vary significantly. The most prevalent allele, which ranges from 1.2 to 1.9 kb, appears to be unique to the Tamil Nadu population. No mutation was observed for the D2S44 locus in family material made up by 54 subjects (N = 54) including 37 offspring. DNA polymorphism at D2S44 locus was also studied in the endogamous Kota tribe of the Nilgiri Hills, South India, using enzyme HaeIII and probe YNH24. The Kota group (N = 48) is characterized by a very high frequency (32.3%) of the bin 1197-1352 bp. The DNA profile of the Kotas shows distinct differences from that of the urban population in the plains of Tamil Nadu, South India (Tamils of Madras City). The results have also been compared with the literature available on other world populations. The outcome indicates the uniqueness of the tribal Kotas and warrants the importance of DNA profiling in other tribal, caste/endogamous groups of India. This report incidentally represents the first comprehensive DNA profiling data for the locus D2S44 from India fulfilling the requirement for forensic and other applications.