A comparative ancestry analysis of Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups using high resolution melting

Abstract

The objective of this study is to deduce paternal ancestry using ancestry informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by means of High Resolution Melting (HRM). This was completed by producing a multiplex system that was designed in a hierarchical manner according to the YSNP tree. This project mainly focused on African ancestry and was used to infer paternal ancestral lineages on the Johannesburg Coloured population. South Africa has a diverse population that has ancestral history from across the globe. The South African Coloured population is the most admixed population as it is derived from at least five different population groups: these being Khoisan, Bantu, Europeans, Indians and Southeast Asians. There have been studies done on the Western Cape/ Cape Town Coloured populations before but this study focused on the Johannesburg Coloured population.