Inferring genetic sub-structure in the population of Argentina using fifteen microsatellite loci

Argentina is considered to be genetically heterogeneous, with important Native American and European genetic contributions to its extant population. In order to test if genetic sub-structure does exist in Argentina, a set of 15 autosomal markers were analyzed in 5282 individuals inhabiting ten provinces. Allele frequencies, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and genetic distance, determined by Fst, were established between the sampled populations. Our results indicate that the genetic distances are non-significant between most of the sampled populations, being Salta the only one with significant differences with almost all other populations (F-st: 0.00486-0.01627, p: 0.0413-0.0002). Comparison between the ten populations investigated herein with already published data sets of six additional provinces was performed. This analysis showed that the genetic distances are non-significant between these sixteen provinces, with the exception of Salta sample. These results might suggest that genetic sub-structure cannot be detected by the autosomal STRs in the population of Argentina. Accordingly, a database of the whole country might be used for the correct interpretation of paternity testing and forensic casework results. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.