ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the polymorphisms of 17 Y-STR loci in Han population in Guangdong Province and explore its application in forensic medicine.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Seventeen Y-STR loci (DYS19, DYS385a/b, DYS635, DYS389I, DYS389II,DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, Y-GATA-H4) were analyzed using Y filer™ kit in 1000 unrelated individuals and 1000 DNA-confirmed father-son pairs. All mutations were confirmed by DNA sequence analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No shared haplotypes were observed among the 1000 unrelated male individuals, and the gene diversity of 17 Y-STR loci ranged from 0.4285 (DYS391) to 0.9654 (DYS385a/b). The samples yielded an overall haplotype diversity of 1.000. A total of 17000 meiotic events were investigated in 1000 father-son pairs with DNA-confirmed biological paternity and 46 differences were observed between the fathers and sons. The average mutation rate was 0.0027 (95%CI, 0.0020-0.0036) per locus.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The 17 Y-STR loci included in Y-filer have high genetic polymorphisms in South China Han population and have good prospect for application in forensic medicine.</p>