The results of an mtDNA study of 1200 inhabitants of a German village in comparison to other Caucasian databases and its relevance for forensic casework

Mitochondrial DNA control region sequences were determined in 1200 male vol unteers from one village area of Lower Saxony for the hypervariable region 1 (HV1). The 154 variable positions found resulted in 460 different haploty pes with a haplotype diversity value of 0.98165. The number of different ha plotypes showed a nearly linear increase with the number of individuals typ ed. The haplotype diversity approached saturation level at a value of appro ximately 0.981 after typing 400 individuals. Furthermore, the number of dif ferent haplotypes and the haplotype diversity were calculated for four shor t amplicons of HV1 in order to establish the most variable section with a h igh efficiency for forensic casework.