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Exploring the Western Mediterranean through X-chromosome

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Abstract

In this study, we investigate the forensic and population genetics properties of 21 X-chromosome markers (9 X-Alu insertions and 12 X-STRs) in a dataset composed of 716 individuals from 11 Western Mediterranean populations. The high values of combined forensic parameters indicate that this 21 X-loci panel can complement autosomal or uniparental markers in kinship analysis and complex deficient paternity testing in the populations studied. Population analyses revealed a lower differentiation between Western Mediterranean human groups for X-STRs than for X-Alu insertion polymorphisms. Moreover, X-chromosome markers suggest a sex-biased migration rate, confirming the predominance of patrilocality in this area.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Maria Trinidad Garcia (from the Serveis Cientificotècnics of the Universitat de les Illes Balears) for her assistance and help with capillary electrophoresis procedures and Meryl Jones for the English language corrections. We would also like to sincerely thank all the people who volunteered to participate in this study.

Funding

This work was partially supported by grant AAEE133/09 from the Direcció General de R + D + I (Comunitat Autònoma de les Illes Balears) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). KB was a recipient of an AVERROES grant (Erasmus MUNDUS, European Commission).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament de Biologia, Institut Universitari d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut (IUNICS) i Laboratori de Genètica, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Carretera de Valldemossa, km 7.5, 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Illes Balears, Spain

    J. F. Ferragut, M. Ramírez, A. Y. Saguillo, C. Ramon & A. Picornell

  2. Biochemistry and Immunology Laboratory-Forensic Unit, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V Agdal University, Avenue Ibn Batouta Agdal, 1014, Rabat, BP, Morocco

    K. Bentayebi

  3. Sezione di Genetica Forense, Studio Indagini Mediche e Forensi (SIMEF), 89128, Reggio Calabria, Italy

    A. Barbaro

Authors
  1. J. F. Ferragut
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  2. K. Bentayebi
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  3. A. Barbaro
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  4. M. Ramírez
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  5. A. Y. Saguillo
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  6. C. Ramon
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  7. A. Picornell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Picornell.

Ethics declarations

All participants provided written informed consent statements in accordance with the approval of the respective local committees: Italian Law D.lgs. 196/2003 (and subsequent supplement) and SIMEF internal procedures, Ethical Committee of the University of Mohammed V-Agdal (Morocco), and the Direcció General de R + D + I (Government of Balearic Islands, Spain) (procedure AAEE133/2009). The anonymity of the recruited samples was preserved throughout the study.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Ferragut, J.F., Bentayebi, K., Barbaro, A. et al. Exploring the Western Mediterranean through X-chromosome. Int J Legal Med 135, 787–790 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02498-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02498-4

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