Mitochondrial DNA 30-SNP data confirm high prevalence of African lineages in the population of Espirito Santo, Brazil

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis is usually a last resort in routine forensic DNA casework especially when nuclear DNA analysis cannot be applied. Because of the Brazilian population is highly admixed it is necessary to select highly discriminatory SNPs. The goal of this article is to characterize the mtDNA haplogroups in 100 unrelated individuals from the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil, by using 30-SNPs of mtDNA in two multiplex SNaPshot. The population was classified according to its origin in 43% of African, 26% of Native American, 30% of European and 1% Asian in 19 different haplogroups. These data confirmed therefore that this population is also highly admixed because of the history of country colonization.