The importance of STR specific databases: a comparative study

Abstract

The ST R allele frequencies have been used in studies of human populations to assess their genetic composition, variability, relationships and the evolutionary factors to which they are subjected. The Brazilian population is composed of individuals from different ethnical origins, varying according to the geographical region. Santa Catarina population is mainly originated from Portuguese (Azores archipelago). In this study, a Neighbor-Joining tree was constructed based on genetic distances of Nei, using the allele frequencies of the CO DIS ST R loci, from Santa Catarina population and other 23 different populations, including some of other ethnic groups. The results indicate the requirement of an extensive genetic study in order to implement population specific databases for forensic purposes