Effect of low-dose radiation on mutation rates of STR loci commonly used in forensic casework

Abstract 

The possible effect of low-dose radiation on STR markers in people exposed to radiation during their professional activities was estimated in this study. We evaluated mutation rates in 17 forensic STR loci typed by the COrDIS-18 kit (CSF1PO, D10S1248, D12S391, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, D2S441, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, FGA, SE33, TH01, TPOX, and vWA) in 78 families (father–mother–child) with one parent exposed to low-dose radiation before fertilization. Five mutations were observed. In two cases, the new alleles were delivered from the non-exposed parent. The calculated mutation rate for the 17 studied STR loci in families appeared to be in good concordance with data published for normal populations. No evidence for an elevated mutation rate in STR markers after low-dose radiation was found.

Keywords: Short tandem repeat, Autosomal STR, Mutation rate, Allele frequencies