Background: The history of the Aurès mountains and neighbouring areas, a large region of the East of Algeria, was part of the history of the ancient independent Berber kingdoms supposed to be the ancestors of the current Berber people. The genetic background of this region has not yet been clarified.

Aim: The aims of our study were to investigate the genetic characteristics of 15 autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) in a sample from these regions, to determine the degree of heterogeneity among Algerian and North African samples and to analyse the genetic relationships with other populations.

Subjects and methods: Allele frequencies, forensic parameters and Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) of 15 autosomal STRs included in the PowerPlex^® ESI 16 System were obtained from 308 individuals. Allele frequencies were used to determine the relationships with other populations.

Results: All loci were highly polymorphic and no significant deviation from HWE was detected. Allele frequencies showed that the samples of Aurès region share genetic affinities with other Algerian, North African and Middle Eastern samples, with the exception of samples from Iran and Matmata.

Conclusions: These markers revealed a genetic homogeneity between the Algerian and North African samples. The genetic affinities indicate that this sample could share a common ancestor with the Middle Eastern samples.

背景：阿尔及利亚东部大片地区Aurès山脉和周边地区的历史，是古老的独立柏柏尔王国历史的一部分，这些王国应该是现今柏柏尔人的祖先。该区域的遗传背景尚未阐明。

目的：我们的研究目的是调查来自这些地区的15个常染色体短串联重复序列（STR）的遗传特征，确定阿尔及利亚和北非样品之间的异质性程度，并分析与其他种群的遗传关系。

对象和方法：等位基因频率，法医参数和包括在15点的PowerPlex常染色体的STR Hardy-Weinberg平衡（HWE）^® ESI 16系统从308个个体获得。等位基因频率用于确定与其他人群的关系。

结果：所有基因座均为高度多态性，未检测到与HWE的显着差异。等位基因频率显示，Aurès地区的样品与其他阿尔及利亚，北非和中东样品具有相似的遗传亲和力，但伊朗和Matmata的样品除外。

结论：这些标记揭示了阿尔及利亚和北非样品之间的遗传同源性。遗传亲和力表明该样品可以与中东样品共享同一祖先。