Genetic Diversity in Gorkhas: an Autosomal STR Study

Genotyping of highly polymorphic autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) markers is a potent tool for elucidating genetic diversity. In the present study, fifteen autosomal STR markers were analyzed in unrelated healthy male Gorkha individuals (n = 98) serving in the Indian Army by using AmpFlSTR Identifiler Plus PCR Amplification Kit. In total, 138 alleles were observed with corresponding allele frequencies ranging from 0.005 to 0.469. The studied loci were in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE). Heterozygosity ranged from 0.602 to 0.867. The most polymorphic locus was Fibrinogen Alpha (FGA) chain which was also the most discriminating locus as expected. Neighbor Joining (NJ) tree and principal component analysis (PCA) plot clustered the Gorkhas with those of Nepal and other Tibeto-Burman population while lowlander Indian population formed separate cluster substantiating the closeness of the Gorkhas with the Tibeto-Burman linguistic phyla. Furthermore, the dataset of STR markers obtained in the study presents a valuable information source of STR DNA profiles from personnel for usage in disaster victim identification in military exigencies and adds to the Indian database of military soldiers and military hospital repository.