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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Complete mitogenome data for the Serbian population:
the contribution to high-quality forensic databases
Slobodan Davidovic
1,2
&Boris Malyarchuk
3
&Tomasz Grzybowski
4
&Jelena M. Aleksic
1
&
Miroslava Derenko
3
&Andrey Litvinov
3
&Urszula Rogalla-Ładniak
4
&Milena Stevanovic
1,5,6
&
Natasa Kovacevic-Grujicic
1
Received: 2 November 2019 /Accepted: 28 May 2020
#Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
Mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) is a valuable resource inresolving various human forensic casework. The usage of variability of
complete mtDNA genomes increases their discriminatory power to the maximum and enables ultimate resolution of distinct
maternal lineages. However, their wider employment in forensic casework is nowadays limited by the lack of appropriate
reference database. In order to fill in the gap in the reference data, which, considering Slavic-speaking populations, currently
comprises only mitogenomes of East and West Slavs, we present mitogenome data for 226 Serbians, representatives of South
Slavs from the Balkan Peninsula. We found 143 (sub)haplogroups among which West Eurasian ones were dominant. The
percentage of unique haplotypes was 85%, and the random match probability was as low as 0.53%. We support previous findings
on both high levels of genetic diversity in the Serbian population and patterns of genetic differentiation among this and ten
studied European populations. However, our high-resolution data supported more pronounced genetic differentiation among
Serbians and two Slavic populations (Russians and Poles) as well as expansion of the Serbian population after the Last Glacial
Maximum and during the Migration period (fourth to ninth century A.D.), as inferred from the Bayesian skyline analysis.
Phylogenetic analysis of haplotypes found in Serbians contributed towards the improvement of the worldwide mtDNA phylog-
eny, which is essential for the interpretation of the mtDNA casework.
Keywords Complete mitogenomes .Demographic changes .Molecular phylogeography .Serbian population
Introduction
The mitochondrial genome (mtDNA, mitogenome) is partic-
ularly suitable in forensic casework when STR profiling
cannot be performed due to the degraded and/or scarce nuclear
DNA [1,2]. Given its matrilineal inheritance, individuals may
be identified along maternal lineage across many generations
[3] and that enables, for instance, testing for putative exclusion
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article
(https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02324-x) contains supplementary
material, which is available to authorized users.
*Natasa Kovacevic-Grujicic
natasakovacevic@imgge.bg.ac.rs
1
Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, University
of Belgrade, PO Box 23, Vojvode Stepe 444a, Belgrade 11010,
Serbia
2
Present address: Department of Genetics of Populations and
Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša
Stanković”, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of
Belgrade, Bulevar despota Stefana 142, Belgrade 11060, Serbia
3
Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Biological Problems of the North,
Russian Academy of Sciences, Portovaya 18, Magadan 685000,
Russia
4
Department of Forensic Medicine, Division of Molecular and
Forensic Genetics, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum, Faculty
of Medicine, Nicolaus Copernicus University,
Marii-Sklodowskiej-Curie Str. 9, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland
5
Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski Trg 16,
Belgrade 11000, Serbia
6
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Kneza Mihaila 35,
Belgrade 11000, Serbia
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02324-x
/ Published online: 6 June 2020
International Journal of Legal Medicine (2020) 134:1581–1590
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.