Background: Bosnia and Herzegovina is a multinational and multireligious country, located in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. Migrations through history were a key factor in the genetic identity of the Bosnian–Herzegovinian population. Aim: To analyse genetic polymorphisms of 22 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci in the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to compare STR allele frequencies for STR loci with the reference data for European populations. Subjects and methods: The study was conducted among 600 unrelated individuals from all regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Genotyping was performed using the PowerPlex^® Fusion amplification kit. Allele frequencies and statistical parameters were calculated, as well as the genetic distance among analysed populations through the construction of a neighbor-joining dendrogram. Results: STR loci included in the PowerPlex^® Fusion amplification kit showed high discriminatory power indicating their reliability for human identification and paternity testing. The neighbor-joining dendrogram based on the results of genetic distance analysis showed that the Bosnian and Herzegovinian population has the greatest genetic distance from Turkish and Hungarian populations and greatest similarity with Croatian, Slovenian, and Serbian populations. Conclusion: The results of this study strongly support the application of 22 autosomal genetic markers for paternity testing and personal identity testing and are in agreement with most previous human studies in the investigated human populations.

This research work included bioinformatics modeling of the dipotassium-trioxohydroxytetrafluorotriborate-halogenated boroxine molecule, as well as simulation and prediction of structural interactions between the halogenated boroxine molecule, human carbonic anhydrase, and human catalase structures. Using computational methods, we tried to confirm the inhibitory effect of halogenated boroxine on the active sites of these previously mentioned enzymes. The three-dimensional crystal structures of human catalase (PDB ID: 1DGB) and human carbonic anhydrase (PDB ID: 6FE2) were retrieved from RCSB Protein Data Bank and the protein preparation was performed using AutoDock Tools. ACD/ChemSketch and ChemDoodle were used for creating the three-dimensional structure of halogenated boroxine. Molecular docking was performed using AutoDock Vina, while the results were visualized using PyMOL. Results obtained in this research are showing evidence that there are interactions between the halogenated boroxine molecule and both previously mentioned proteins (human carbonic anhydrase and human catalase) in their active sites, which led us to the conclusion that the inhibitory function of halogenated boroxine has been confirmed. These findings could be an important step in determining the exact mechanisms of inhibitory activity and will hopefully serve in further research purposes of complex pharmacogenomics studies.

Apple accessions, currently maintained within the two main ex situ collections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), have previously been genotyped using microsatellite markers. The obtained molecular data provided insight into mislabeled accessions and redundancies, as well as the overall genetic structure of the germplasm. The available dataset enabled the creation of a core collection consisting of 52 accessions. The reliability and usefulness of microsatellites has made this low-density marker system a norm in studies on apple germplasm. However, the increased access to medium- and high-density SNP arrays, developed specifically for apples, has opened new avenues of research into apple genetic resources. In this study, 45 apple genotypes consisting of 33 diploid core collection accessions from B&H and 12 international reference cultivars were genotyped using an Axiom^® Apple 480 K SNP array in order to examine their genetic relationships, population structure and diversity, as well as to compare the obtained results with those calculated on previously reported SSR profiles. The SNPs displayed a better ability to differentiate apple accessions based on their origin, as well as to cluster them according to their pedigree. Calculating identity by descent revealed 16 pairings with first-degree relationships and uncovered the introgression of ‘Delicious’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ into the core collection.

Mutation analysis in forensic genetics and occurrence of mutations at short-tandem repeat (STR) loci, are very important in paternity testing and precise elucidation of obtained genetic profiles. To determine these locus-specific mutations in Bosnian-Herzegovinian population and their rate, 15 or 22 autosomal loci were typed using PowerPlex 16 and PowerPlex Fusion systems. In total, 1253 individuals within 583 parenthood testing cases were profiled at the Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Sarajevo during the period from 2009-2018. Out of total cases, in 13 cases 14 mutations were discovered at 11 loci. Among all tested DNA profiles two mutations occurred at D8S1179, D18S51 and FGA loci each, and one mutation at PENTA D, D3S1358, CSF1P0, D21S11, D5S818, vWA, D16S539, PENTA E. Mutation rates were calculated for 11 loci and were in consistency with mutation rates reported for correspondent locus. In our study, one mutation at locus PENTA D derives from maternal source. Also in one trio paternity case two single-step mutations at loci D16S539 and D18S51 were observed. Our results confirmed mutation analysis is important in paternity testing and therefore much attention should be directed at their analysis.