The application of statistical approaches in studying population genetics with STR data

As high polymorphism markers, STR loci have been widely used in studying population genetics. This review summarizes various genetic diversity parameters and analysis methods regarding to genotype frequency and allele frequency, including heterozygosity, polymorphism information content (PIC), linkage disequilibrium coefficients, inbreeding coefficients, genetic distance and fixation indices. The methods of statistical analysis included principal component analysis, phylogenetic trees, analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), R matrix, GIS and spatial autocorrelation. By means of various parameters and methods, graphically and scientifically, we can describe and interpret several key issues in the study of population genetics, such as population genetic structure, population differentiation and human evolution.