Y-SPECIFIC DNA POLYMORPHISMS OF THE YAP ELEMENT AND THE LOCUS DYS19 IN THE KOREAN POPULATION

The Y Alu polymorphic (YAP) element (DYS287) and the Y-linked tetranuc leotide microsatellite locus DYS19 were examined in samples from a tot al of 455 unrelated males in the Korean population. The frequency of t he YAP(+) allele was found to be 1.3% (6/455) in the Korean population . These results are consistent with previous reports that showed the Y AP element to be absent in most Asian populations, with the exception of the high frequency of the YAP(+) allele in the Japanese population All five common alleles at the DYS19 locus were identified in this stu dy. The C allele was the most frequent (197/455), followed by the D (1 19/455), B (78/455), E (41/455), and A (20/455) alleles. Seven combina tion haplotypes (DYS287/DYS19) were found, and the mean combination ha plotype diversity in the Korean population appeared to be 0.71. Based on results of these two loci, Japanese and Korean populations may shar e some common genetic structure that could reflect recent gene flow an d some amount of admixture of Y chromosomes between these two populati ons.