Finnish mitochondrial DNA HVS-I and HVS-II population data

We have analyzed the two hypervariable regions HVS-I and HVS-II of 200 Finnish male individuals for forensic purposes. The distribution of the haplotypes within Finland was determined by the geographical knowledge of the donors' maternal ancestors. In our population sample, we identified 135 different mtDNA haplotypes. Different mtDNA sequences were further divided to haplogroups using the EMPOP software. The most common haplogroups were H (40.0%) and U (27.5%). Subgroup U5b, which contains earlier described "Saami motif", consisted majority (65.5%) of the sample in the U haplogroup. Analysis of the mtDNA sequence hypervariable regions I and II showed that the mtDNA diversity within the Finnish population sample was comparable to other European populations and uniformly distributed. This is contrary to the Y-STR "minimal haplotype" diversity, which in Finland is lower than in any of the other European populations studied so far.