Development and validation of a next generation STR ESS-pentaplex

Received 26 August 2009; accepted 27 August 2009. published online 12 October 2009.

Abstract

We constructed a simple STR pentaplex of new loci recommended as next generation markers for the European Standard Set (ESS) comprising normal-amplicon STRs: D12S391 and D1S1656, plus mini-amplicon STRs: D2S441, D10S1248 and D22S1045. Validation of the pentaplex included evaluation of its ability to amplify DNA from a variety of degraded forensic casework samples. Although the ESS-pentaplex was designed in the first instance to generate allele frequency data to supplement existing databases of established STRs, the multiplex proved to be a valuable tool for the analysis of challenging DNA when certain markers of Identifiler or MiniFiler occasionally failed.

Keywords: Short tandem repeat, STR, Human identification, Multiplex PCR, Degraded DNA

a Forensic Genetics Unit, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

b Department of Forensic Genetics, SIMEF, Reggio Calabria, Italy

c Haematology, ICMS, Barts and The London, UK

Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 981 582 327; fax: +34 981 580 336.

PII: S1875-1768(09)00203-0

doi:10.1016/j.fsigss.2009.08.190

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