Parentage testing with 14 STR loci and population data for 5 STRs in the Slovenian population

in order to apply a set of 14 short tandem repeat (STR) loci in parentage t esting, we performed a population genetic study on a sample of 260 unrelate d people from the Slovenian population. Genotypes for the 14 STRs were dete rmined using three multiplex polymerase chain reactions (PCR) and automated fluorescent detection. The allele frequencies of the STR loci D5S818, D13S 317, D7S820, D8S1179 and D18S51 showed no deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and agreed well with other Caucasian populations. We resolved a series of 181 parentage disputes of which 29 were exclusions. In all case s, evidence for exclusion was obtained by at least 4 informative STRs out o f the 14 loci analysed. The 14 loci combined comprise a highly discriminati ng test suitable for paternity and identity testing in the Slovenian popula tion, with an average estimated mutation rate of 1.2x10(-3), a combined cal culated power of exclusion of 99.99974% and paternity index (PT) value of > 10(6) in 72% of the inclusion cases and >10(5) in 91% of the inclusion case s.