Allele frequencies for 15 autosomal STR loci and haplotype data for 17 Y-STR loci in a population from Belize

Allele frequencies for 15 autosomal STR loci (N = 290) and haplotype data for 17 Y-STR loci (N = 157) were determined for an admixed population from Belize. There were no detectable departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium expectations at any autosomal STR loci except for the D8S1179 locus (p = 0.002). The combined power of discrimination (PD) and combined power of exclusion (PE) were greater than 0.99999999 and 0.99999951, respectively. In addition, a total of 144 distinct Y-STR haplotypes were observed with 133 Y-STR haplotypes observed only once. The most common Y-STR haplotype was observed three times for two separate haplotypes. The various analyses of these forensically relevant STR loci showed that these markers are informative in the Belize population for forensic and parentage testing applications.