Forensic features and genetic structure of 23 autosomal STRs in Artux Turkic-speaking population residing in southwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

Autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) are viewed as the gold standard in forensic individual identification and parentage testing. The Huaxia Platinum System contains 23 autosomal markers along with rs2032678 (Yindel) and amelogenin. Here, we genotyped 23-STRs in the southwestern Xinjiang Uyghur residing in the Artux Region and assessed the allele frequency and forensic statistical parameters. All investigated STRs are in conformity with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium with an effective combined power of discrimination (0.99999999999999999999999999992) and cumulative probability of exclusion (0.9999999997) in the Artux Uyghur population. Population comparisons among 54 worldwide populations via PCA and MDS indicate that the Artux Uyghur population has a close genetic relationship with geographically distinct Uyghurs and Kazakh groups than other East Asians or Eurasians. Genetic ancestry component dissection among 2198 individuals from Sinitic, Turkic, and Tibeto-Burman language groups further demonstrates the genetic homogeneity within the Turkic language family and apparent genetic heterogeneity among other language groups.