A large population genetic study of 15 autosomal short tandem repeat loci for establishment of Korean DNA Profile Database

Genotyping of highly polymorphic short tandem repeat (STR) markers is widely used for the genetic identification of individuals in forensic DNA analyses and in paternity disputes. The National DNA Profile Databank recently established by the DNA Identification Act in Korea contains the computerized STR DNA profiles of individuals convicted of crimes. For the establishment of a large autosomal STR loci population database, 1805 samples were obtained at random from Korean individuals and 15 autosomal STR markers were analyzed using the AmpFlSTR Identifiler PCR Amplification kit. For the 15 autosomal STR markers, no deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed. The most informative locus in our data set was the D2S1338 with a discrimination power of 0.9699. The combined matching probability was 1.521 × 10⁻¹⁷. This large STR profile dataset including atypical alleles will be important for the establishment of the Korean DNA database and for forensic applications.     

Genetic variation of three autosomal STR Loci D21S1435, D21S1411, and D21S1412 in Korean population

The autosomal tetranucleotide short tandem repeat loci D21S1435, D21S1411 and D21S1412 were analyzed in samples of unrelated 200 Korean individuals. The loci showed no significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Alleles were assigned according to the International Society for Forensic Haemogenetics (ISFH) recommendations. The power of discrimination of the analyzed markers was found to be high for the populations, thereby facilitating the validation and efficiency of these STR markers in forensic human identification and paternity testing. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the nomenclature and the allele frequency data for these three STR loci in Korean population.     

Evaluation of reliability on STR typing at leukemic patients used for forensic purposes

Over the past decades, main advances in the field of molecular biology, coupled with benefits in genomic technologies, have led to detailed molecular investigations in the genetic diversity generated by researchers. Short tandem repeat (STR) loci are polymorphic loci found throughout all eukaryotic genome. DNA profiling identification, parental testing and kinship analysis by analysis of STR loci have been widely used in forensic sciences since 1993. Malignant tissues may sometimes be the source of biological material for forensic analysis, including identification of individuals or paternity testing. There are a number of studies on microsatellite instability in different types of tumors by comparing the STR profiles of malignant and healthy tissues on the same individuals. Defects in DNA repair pathways (non-repair or mis-repair) and metabolism lead to an accumulation of microsatellite alterations in genomic DNA of various cancer types that result genomic instabilities on forensic analyses. Common forms of genomic instability are loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MSI). In this study, the applicability of autosomal STR markers, which are routinely used in forensic analysis, were investigated in order to detect genotypes in blood samples collected from leukemic patients to estimate the reliability of the results when malignant tissues are used as a source of forensic individual identification. Specimens were collected from 90 acute and 10 chronic leukemia volunteers with oral swabs as well as their paired peripheral blood samples from the Oncology Centre of the Department of Hematology at Istanbul University, during the years 2010–2011. Specimens were tested and compared with 16 somatic STR loci (CSFIPO, THO1, TPOX, vWA, D2S1338, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D19S433, D21S11 and FGA) widely used in forensic identification and kinship. Only two STR instabilities were encountered among 100 specimens. An MSI in the FGA loci and a LOH in the D2S1338 loci were determined in two individuals separately. Our results demonstrate that the use of the biological samples from leukemia patients in forensic identification and kinship testing is questionable, especially if known microsatellite instability is available. Genetic instabilities may alter the STR polymorphism, leading to potential errors on forensic identification of individuals. Therefore, typing of autosomal STRs from leukemia patients should be performed with both healthy and malignant tissue samples of individual as references.     

Genetic data provided by 21 autosomal STR loci from Chinese Tujia ethnic group

The aim of this study was to investigate allelic frequency distribution and forensic genetic parameters of autosomal short tandem repeats (STR) loci of the population samples from 107 Tujia individuals from Chinese Hubei Province. Twenty-one autosomal STR genetic markers (D9S1122, D6S474, D6S1017, D5S2500, D4S2408, D3S4529, D2S441, D2S1776, D22S1045, D20S482, D1S1677, D1S1627, D1GATA113, D19S433, D18S853, D17S1301, D11S4463, D12ATA63, D10S1248, D10S1435 and D14S1434) were simultaneously amplified in a new multiplex polymerase chain reaction system. 155 alleles for all the STR loci from the Tujia population were observed and the corresponding allelic frequencies ranged from 0.005 to 0.589. Expected heterozygosity, polymorphic information content, power of discrimination and power of exclusion of the 21 STR loci in the Tujia population were from 0.579 to 0.824, from 0.525 to 0.802, from 0.773 to 0.945 and from 0.257 to 0.641, respectively. Our results indicate that the autosomal STRs multiplex system provides highly informative STR data and could be useful in forensic individual identification and parentage testing in this region.     

Genetic polymorphism analysis of 15 STR loci in Chinese Hui ethnic group residing in Qinghai province of China

In the present study, we investigated the diversity distributions of allelic frequencies of 15 short tandem repeats (STRs) loci in a sample of Chinese Hui ethnic group in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The allelic frequencies of the 15 STR loci (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA) were obtained from 2975 unrelated healthy Hui individuals. The STR genotyping data of all the samples were generated by DNA extraction, multiple amplification, GeneScan and genotype analysis. The genetic distances among different populations were calculated by using Nei's method and a phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the allelic frequencies of the same 15 STR loci using the neighbor-joining method. A total of 185 alleles were observed in the Hui population, with the corresponding allelic frequencies ranging from 0.0002 to 0.5322. Chi-Square tests showed that all STR loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The forensic statistical parameters of all the loci showed high values. The population data in this study were compared with the previously published population data from other ethnics or areas. The Hui population showed significant differences from the Minnan Han, Uigur, Ewenki, Yi, Tibetan, Maonan and Malay ethnic minority groups in some loci, and from the South Morocco population and the Moroccan population in all the loci. Our results are valuable for human individual identification and paternity testing in the Chinese Hui population and are expected to enrich the genetic information resources of Chinese populations.     

新疆维吾尔族四个STR位点遗传多态性分析

研究新疆维吾尔族人群D16S539、D13S317、D7S820和D5S818的STR基因位点的基因及基因型分布,获得4个基因座的群体遗传学数据。采用PCR扩增技术和基因扫描技术进行样本STR遗传结构分析,并与其他种族、人群的等位基因频率进行比较。结果表明4个基因位点在新疆维吾尔族人群中均具有遗传多态性。4个基因座的基因型分布均符合Hardy-Weinberg平衡定律（P＞0.05）,不同人群基因频率分布存在一定的差异,所得到的等位基因频率等数据可为遗传学研究、法医个体畜产品识别及亲子鉴定提供依据。     

Common benzothiazole and benzoxazole fluorescent DNA intercalators for studying Alzheimer Aβ1-42 and prion amyloid peptides

DNA-based methods for human identification principally rely upon genotyping of short tandem repeat (STR) loci. Electrophoretic-based techniques for variable-length classification of STRs are universally utilized, but are limited in that they have relatively low throughput and do not yield nucleotide sequence information. High-throughput sequencing technology may provide a more powerful instrument for human identification, but is not currently validated for forensic casework. Here, we present a systematic method to perform high-throughput genotyping analysis of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) STR loci using short-read (150 bp) massively parallel sequencing technology. Open source reference alignment tools were optimized to evaluate PCR-amplified STR loci using a custom designed STR genome reference. Evaluation of this approach demonstrated that the 13 CODIS STR loci and amelogenin (AMEL) locus could be accurately called from individual and mixture samples. Sensitivity analysis showed that as few as 18,500 reads, aligned to an in silico referenced genome, were required to genotype an individual (>99% confidence) for the CODIS loci. The power of this technology was further demonstrated by identification of variant alleles containing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the development of quantitative measurements (reads) for resolving mixed samples.     

Paternity testing and forensic DNA typing by multiplex STR analysis using ABI PRISM 310 Genetic Analyzer

Short tandem repeats (STRs) are widespread throughout the human genome and are a rich source of highly polymorphic markers which can be detected by PCR. To gain a better appreciation for how the polymorphism at a particular locus impacts the individual identity, the present study was undertaken to explore the use of 15 STR loci in forensic investigation and paternity testing. Multiplex STR typing was used to study the 15 STR loci (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA) in addition to a gender identification marker, amelogenin, by capillary electrophoresis on 310 Genetic Analyzer. Samples from 85 trio and duo cases of disputed paternity were investigated. The data were analyzed to give information on paternity index, probability of paternity, frequency of number of exclusions and rate of mismatch at each STR locus. The method was also successfully applied to forensic personal identification in theft and murder cases. The results demonstrated that the STR typing is a reliable and robust tool for analyzing the forensic practice as well as for paternity testing. The advantages of using multiplex STR analysis over other conventional methods are discussed.     

Efficient DNA fingerprinting method for the identification of cross-culture contamination of cell lines

In order to identify cross-culture contamination of cell lines, we applied DNA fingerprinting using variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) loci and short tandem repeat (STR) loci amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) instead of a radioisotope labeled multilocus probe. Eleven cell lines were used for the Apo B and D1S80 loci detection, and twelve cell lines were examined in the Y-chromosome analysis. The data obtained from the sister cell lines NALM-6 and B85, two MOLM-1 cultures from two cryopreserved tubes, and four subclones of BALM-9 and its sister cell line BALM-10, displayed clear and distinct bands of each PCR product for both Apo B and D1S80. Detection of a Y-chromosome DNA sequence is another very informative marker for the identification of cell lines, if the Y-chromosome is present. We examined eight cell lines for the expression of four STR loci; the data thus generated were compared with the results previously reported from other laboratories. The resulting electrophoretic banding patterns showed that our "home-made" STR detection system is a useful and efficient tool for the authentication of cell lines. PCR detection of VNTR and STR loci represents a simple, rapid and powerful DNA fingerprinting technique to authenticate human cell lines and to detect cross-culture contamination. This PCR technique may be used in lieu of the more time-consuming, labor-intensive and radioactive Southern blot multilocus method.     

Regeneration of multiple shoots from transgenic potato events facilitates the recovery of phenotypically normal lines: assessing a cry9Aa2 gene conferring insect resistance

Background

Tools for authenticating cell lines are critical for quality control in cell-based biological experiments. Currently there are methods to authenticate human cell lines using short tandem repeat (STR) markers based on the technology and procedures successfully used in the forensic community for human identification, but there are no STR based methods for authenticating nonhuman cell lines to date. There is significant homology between the human and vervet monkey genome and we utilized these similarities to design the first multiplex assay based on human STR markers for vervet cell line identification.

Results

The following STR markers were incorporated into the vervet multiplex PCR assay: D17S1304, D5S1467, D19S245, D1S518, D8S1106, D4S2408, D6S1017, and DYS389. The eight markers were successful in uniquely identifying sixty-two vervet monkey DNA samples and confirmed that Vero76 cells and COS-7 cells were derived from Vero and CV-1 cells, respectively. The multiplex assay shows specificity for vervet DNA within the determined allele range for vervet monkeys; however, the primers will also amplify human DNA for each marker resulting in amplicons outside the vervet allele range in several of the loci. The STR markers showed genetic stability in over sixty-nine passages of Vero cells, suggesting low mutation rates in the targeted STR sequences in the Vero cell line.

Conclusions

A functional vervet multiplex assay consisting of eight human STR markers with heterozygosity values ranging from 0.53-0.79 was successful in uniquely identifying sixty-two vervet monkey samples. The probability of a random match using these eight markers between any two vervet samples is approximately 1 in 1.9 million. While authenticating a vervet cell line, the multiplex assay may also be a useful indicator for human cell line contamination since the assay is based on human STR markers.     

Autosomal STR loci for improving the kinship discrimination power for missing children and forensic application

Short tandem repeats (STRs) loci are very useful genomic markers with high power of individual discrimination, thus, they have been used for population genetics, forensic application and complex kinship analyses. In this study, we examined allele frequencies and forensic parameters for a total of 23 STR loci, that is, 17 established STRs with 13 CODIS core STR loci and D2S1338, D19S433, Penta E, and Penta D loci, and 6 new STRs (D10S1248, D22S1045, D2S441, D1S1656, D12S391, and SE33) in a sample of 545 unrelated individuals in South Korea. All loci were highly polymorphic and no significant departure from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was observed. The addition of 6 new loci to the 17 established STRs increased their power of discrimination by almost eight orders of magnitude (2.52 × 10^?20–4.44 × 10^?28) and improved the specificity of missing children database searches. Furthermore, we found several microvariant alleles at D2S441 and SE33 loci that have not been reported in the Korean population. We believe that this analysis will be useful for forensic application, deficiency paternity testing and expanding previously established Korean DNA databases.     

Genetic characteristics of 32 autosomal STR loci and its application for identifying a locus in hereditary hearing loss in the Korean population

Microsatellites, short tandem repeats, are useful markers for genetic analysis because of their high frequency of occurrence over the genome, high information content due to variable repeat lengths, and ease of typing. To establish a panel of microsatellite markers useful for genetic studies for hereditary hearing loss in the Korean population, the allele frequencies and heterozygosities of 32 microsatellite markers in 172 unrelated Korean individuals were examined. The heterozygosity values for these markers ranged from 48 to 87%. All the markers except D6S1038 and D14S1034 marker showed PIC values over 0.5. This indicates these markers have a high degree of polymorphism and are randomly distributed in the Korean population. Therefore, the combinations of these STR loci provide a powerful tool to find the candidate loci of a causative gens for non-syndromic hearing loss in the Korean population.     

Polymorphism profile of nine short tandem repeat Loci in the Han chinese

Nine short tandem repeat (STR) markers (D3S1358, VWA, FGA, THO1, TPOX, CSFIPO, D5S818, D13S317, and D7S820) and a sex-identification marker (Amel-ogenin locus) were amplified with multiplex PCR and were genotyped with a four-color fluorescence method in samples from 174 unrelated Han individuals in North China. The allele frequencies, genotype frequencies, heterozygosity, probability of discrimination powers, probability of paternity exclusion and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium expectations were determined. The results demonstrated that the genotypes at all these STR loci in Han population conform to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium expectations. The combined discrimination power (DP) was 1.05×10-10 within nine STR loci analyzed and the probability of paternity exclusion (EPP) was 0.9998. The results indicate that these nine STR loci and the Amelo-genin locus are useful markers for human identification, paternity and maternity testing and sex determination in forensic sciences.     

Genetic analysis of the Utah population: a comparison of STR and VNTR loci

Genetic data are reported for nine short tandem repeat (STR) loci (D3S1358, vWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, and D7S820) and six variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) loci (D2S44, D10S28, D4S139, D1S7, D5S110, and D17S79) in samples of Utah African Americans, European Americans, and Hispanics. Little evidence of departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or gametic equilibrium was found in these populations. Because of their relatively higher mutation rates, the VNTR loci exhibited higher average heterozygosity and lower FST levels than did the STR loci. Genetic distance analysis showed congruence between the two types of systems, and a genetic distance analysis of the STR data showed that the three Utah populations are genetically similar to the same ethnic groups in other parts of the United States. In addition, this analysis showed that the African American population is the most genetically divergent, with greater similarity between the Hispanic and European American populations. This analysis demonstrates a high degree of consistency for population designations commonly used in forensic analysis.     

DNA typing and genetic mapping with trimeric and tetrameric tandem repeats.

Tandemly reiterated sequences represent a rich source of highly polymorphic markers for genetic linkage, mapping, and personal identification. Human trimeric and tetrameric short tandem repeats (STRs) were studied for informativeness, frequency, distribution, and suitability for DNA typing and genetic mapping. The STRs were highly polymorphic and inherited stably. A STR-based multiplex PCR for personal identification is described. It features fluorescent detection of amplified products on sequencing gels, specific allele identification, simultaneous detection of independent loci, and internal size standards. Variation in allele frequencies were explored for four U.S. populations. The three STR loci (chromosomes 4, 11, and X) used in the fluorescent multiplex PCR have a combined average individualization potential of 1/500 individuals. STR loci appear common, being found every 300-500 kb on the X chromosome. The combined frequency of polymorphic trimeric and tetrameric STRs could be as high as 1 locus/20 kb. The markers should be useful for genetic mapping, as they are sequence based, and can be multiplexed with the PCR. A method enabling rapid localization of STRs and determination of their flanking DNA sequences was developed, thus simplifying the identification of polymorphic STR loci. The ease by which STRs may be identified, as well as their genetic and physical mapping utility, give them the properties of useful sequence tagged sites (STSs) for the human genome initiative.     

三个STR位点在哈萨克族中的遗传多态性

运用复合PCR扩增,6％变性聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳结合银染技术对我国新疆102位无关的哈萨克族个体进行D16S539,D7S820,D13S317的STR位点的调查,为建立新疆哈萨克族群体数据库提供资料。经统计学检验,3个位点的基因型频率分布符合Hardy-Weinberg平衡定律,结果显示3个位点的期望杂合度为：0.9439、0.9356、0.9304,累积PIC＝0.9905,DP＝0.9998,PE=9572。紫外,比较新疆哈萨克族与其他4个人群的等位片段频率,发现除与北京汉族在D7S820位点上无统计学意义外（P＞0.05）,其他均可见显著性差异（P＜0.05）。同时,在8个家系42人的调查中无一突变发现且均按孟德尔遗传规律传递。3个STR位点的联合分析在法医学应用及群体遗传学中显示了较高的价值。     

中国五个民族STR位点遗传多态性（2）

通过对我国汉回蒙藏维５个民族的５０个家系和５００份样本的ＳＴＲ基因扫描、基因分型和遗传结构分析,获得了ＳＴＲ基因传递方式及遗传特征的大量科学数据。研究结果表明在９个ＳＴＲ位点上汉族有６０种ＳＴＲ等位基因,１４９种基因型;回族有６３种ＳＴＲ等位基因,１４４种基因型;蒙古族有６９种ＳＴＲ等位基因,１７３种基因型;藏族有７７种等位基因,１６８种基因型;维吾尔族有７０种ＳＴＲ等位基因,１４８种基因型。中国     

用多重PCR检测上海地区汉族人群9个STR基因座的多态性

利用多重PCR和四色荧光（5－FAM,JOE,NED和ROX）自动化检测技术调查上海地区汉族人群D3S1358、vWA、FGA、D8S1179、D21S11、D18S51、D5S818、D13S317、D7S820等9个STR基因座多态性分布并计算 该9个基因座的的基因频率（Pi)、个体鉴别力（DP）、无偏倚期望杂合性（H）、多态性信息含量（PIC）和非父排除概率（PE）。结果显示：9个STR基因座的基因型分布符合Hardy-Weinberg平衡,9个STR基因座中FGA基因座的DP值最高为0.9584,D8S1179的H值最高为0.9403,D18S51的PIC值最高为0.8560,D18S51的PE值最高为0.7391,9个STR基因座累积个体鉴别力（CDP)为0.9999996,累积非父排除能力（CPE）为0.99991。9个STR基因座适合作为中国人群的遗传标志,用于人类学、遗传疾病基因连锁分析、法医学亲子鉴定和个体识别等研究领域。     

9号染色体短臂上7个STR基因座在基因扫描中的信息表现

为了初步探讨7个位于染色体9p区域的短串联重复序列(shorttandemrepeat,STR)基因座:D9S288、D9S157、D9S1748、D9S171、D9S161、D9S1817和D9S1805在遗传学研究及法医学应用中的意义,随机抽取225名湖南汉族无关个体,复合PCR技术扩增上述基因座,ABI377全自动测序仪进行基因分型,共检出75种等位基因,通过对基因型及等位片断频率分布的研究和数据统计分析,7个基因座基因频率分布在0.002～0.800之间,构成243种基因型。7个STR基因座基因型分布均符合Hardy Weinberg平衡定律(P>0.05),杂合度(heterozygosity,H)介于0 347～0.844之间,个体识别力(discriminationpower,DP)为0.346～0.841,非父排除率(probabilitiesofpaternityexclusion,PPE)为0.308～0.738,多态信息含量(polymorphicinformationcontent,PIC)在0.328～0.822之间。种族比较结果显示,湖南汉族与非洲黑人及欧洲白人在大多数基因座均存在显著差异(P<0.001)。研究结果丰富了中华民族基因数据库,在人类群体遗传学及法医学研究领域有重要应用价值。     

An integrated microdevice for high-performance short tandem repeat genotyping

Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis provides genetic fingerprinting of individuals, and is considered as a powerful and indispensable technique for forensic human identification. However, the current state-of-the-art STR genotyping processes and instruments are labor intensive, expensive, time consuming, and lack portability. Micro-total-analysis systems or lab-on-a-chip platforms based on microfabrication technologies have the capability to miniaturize and integrate bioanalysis steps in a single format. Recent progress in microsystems has demonstrated their successful performance for the forensic STR typing with a reduced cost, high speed, and improved high throughput. The purpose of this review article is to highlight up-to-date work on advanced microdevices for high-throughput STR genotyping, and a portable integrated microsystem for on-site forensic DNA analysis.