Multiplexed assays for evaluation of Y-SNP markers in US populations

Genetic markers located on the Y chromosome are of increasing importance in human identity testing. In an effort to evaluate the forensic utility of Y chromosome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, we constructed several novel multiplex allele-specific primer extension (ASPE) assays and utilized a new commercial allele-specific hybridization (ASH) multiplex kit to examine 50 Y-SNP markers in 229 males from two US Caucasian and African American populations. The novel ASPE assays covered 18 Y-SNP markers in three multiplex reactions while a commercial ASH kit was used to type 42 Y-SNPs plus amelogenin for sex-typing purposes. There were 10 overlapping loci between the ASPE and ASH methods permitting an evaluation of concordance on over 2000 allele calls. The 50 Y-SNP markers examined in this study define 45 of the 159 possible Y Chromosome Consortium (YCC) haplogroups. Only 18 different haplogroups were observed in our samples. D 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.