Paternal half-sisters or unrelated – How can the X-chromosomal evidence be quantified when one female presents trisomy X?

The X chromosome has unique features, such as haplodiploid mode of genetic transmission, which can be crucial to complement autosomal profiling or to disentangle complex kinship problems. Indeed, for some cases (e.g. full- or paternal half-sisters, or paternal grandmother-granddaughter hypotheses), X-markers are expected to provide a similar or a higher power to the one obtained with autosomes in paternity/maternity investigations. Both theoretical and informatics frameworks for pairwise X-linked kinship analyses are well established for individuals with a regular number of chromosomes, but these are still lacking for individuals exhibiting an X chromosome aneuploidy, such as females with Triple X (47, XXX) syndrome.
Source: Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series - Category: Forensic Medicine Authors: Source Type: research