Abstract: The distribution of a Y-chromo some specific polymorphic loucs, DYS19, in 535 males o f ten ethnic groups in China w as studied by using PCR method follow ed by PAGE and silver staining. The ten ethnic groups a re Han in Shanxi Province, Han in Guangdong Province, Hui in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, M an in Liaoning Province, Uygur in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Yi in Sichuan Province, Tibetan in Tibet Autonomous Region, Zhuang in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Yao in Guang xi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Tujia in Hunan Province. The result show s that allele C ( 194bp) , frequency o f which rang es from 0. 25 to 0. 61, is predominant in Chinese populations; alleles B ( 190bp) and D ( 198bp) take the second place with the frequency ranging from 0. 08 to 0. 36 and 0. 06 to 0. 42, respectively; while alleles A ( 186bp ) and E ( 202bp) take the last place with the frequency ranging from 0 to 0. 07 and 0 to 0. 38, respectively. An individual carrying the allele F ( 206bp) was identified in Zhuang. The pairwise comparison with χ2 test reveals that there exists difference ( P < 0. 05) o r significant difference ( P < 0. 01) in DYS19 phenotype distribution between Yao、 Tibetan and most other Chinese populations. The allele frequency of DYS19 in Chinese ethnic groups has no t been reported so far.

Key words: Chinese populations, Y-chromosome, Microsatellite DNA, DYS19, Polymorphism