Mitochondrial diversity of a northeast German population sample

Mitochondrial DNA sequences of the hypervariable regions HV I and HV II were analyzed in 300 unrelated individuals born and living in the northeast corner of Germany (Western Pomerania) to generate a database for forensic identification purposes in this region. Sequence polymorphism were detected using PCR and direct sequencing analysis. A total of 242 different haplotypes were found as determined by 147 variable positions. The most frequent haplotype (263G, 315.1C) was found in 10 individuals and is also the most common sequence in Europe. Three other haplotypes were shared by 5 individuals, 2 sequences by 4, 8 haplotypes by 3, 15 sequences by 2 persons, and 213 sequences were unique. The genetic diversity was estimated to be 0.99 and the probability of two random individuals showing identical mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes is 0.6%. A comparison with other studies from Germany showed only little differences in the distribution of haplogroups. Nevertheless, one frequent haplotype in northeast Germany (five unrelated individuals) could only rarely be found in other German and European regions. Our results may indicate that despite a high admixture proportion in the German population some regions could demonstrate certain characteristic features.