Combining results of forensic STR kits: HDplex validation including allelic association and linkage testing with NGM and Identifiler loci

Evaluating the efficacy of three Y-STRs commercial kits in degraded skeletal remains

Y chromosome short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) typing is a useful tool in scenarios such as mass graves analysis or disaster victim identification and has become a routine analysis in many laboratories. Not many comparisons have been performed with the currently available commercial kits, much less with degraded skeletal remains. This research aims to evaluate the performance of three commercial Y-STR kits: Yfiler™ Plus, PowerPlex® Y23, and Investigator® Argus Y-28 in 63 degraded skeletal remains from mass graves. PowerPlex® Y23 yields more reportable markers and twice the RFU on average, while Yfiler™ Plus and Investigator® Argus Y-28 exhibited a similar behaviour. Additionally, Argus Y-28, which has not been tested with this kind of samples in literature before, showed a good performance. Finally, a predictive model was attempted to be developed from quantification and autosomal STR data. However, no acceptable model could be obtained. Nevertheless, good Y-STR typing results may be expected if at least 50 pg DNA input is used or 13 autosomal markers were previously obtained.

The Heart of Silk Road "Xinjiang," Its Genetic Portray, and Forensic Parameters Inferred From Autosomal STRs

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China (XUARC) harbors almost 50 ethnic groups including the Uyghur (UGR: 45.84%), Han (HAN: 40.48%), Kazakh (KZK: 6.50%), Hui (HUI: 4.51%), Kyrgyz (KGZ: 0.86%), Mongol (MGL: 0.81%), Manchu (MCH: 0.11%), and Uzbek (UZK: 0.066%), which make it one of the most colorful regions with abundant cultural and genetic diversities. In our previous study, we established allelic frequency databases for 14 autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) for four minority populations from XUARC (MCH, KGZ, MGL, and UZK) using the AmpFlSTR® Identifiler PCR Amplification Kit. In this study, we genotyped 2,121 samples using the GoldenEye™ 20A Kit (Beijing PeopleSpot Inc., Beijing, China) amplifying 19 autosomal STR loci for four major ethnic groups (UGR, HAN, KZK, and HUI). These groups make up 97.33% of the total XUARC population. The total number of alleles for all the 19 STRs in these populations ranged from 232 (HAN) to 224 (KZK). We did not observe any departures from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) in these populations after sequential Bonferroni correction. We did find minimal departure from linkage equilibrium (LE) for a small number of pairwise combinations of loci. The match probabilities for the different populations ranged from 1 in 1.66 × 1023 (HAN) to 6.05 × 1024 (HUI), the combined power of exclusion ranged from 0.999 999 988 (HUI) to 0.999 999 993 (UGR), and the combined power of discrimination ranged from 0.999 999 999 999 999 999 999 983 (HAN) to 0.999 999 999 999 999 999 999 997 (UGR). Genetic distances, principal component analysis (PCA), STRUCTURE analysis, and the phylogenetic tree showed that genetic affinity among studied populations is consistent with linguistic, ethnic, and geographical classifications.

Population and forensic analysis of 9 non-CODIS markers in Slovak population

Genetic analyses of STR markers provide data for several important applications, including criminal caseworks, kinship analyses and population studies. In this study, we describe the parameters of nine STR markers (D2S1360, D3S1744, D4S2366, D5S2500, D6S474, D7S1517, D8S1132, D10S2325, D21S2055) in Slovak population and compare them with several European and worldwide populations. Since these markers are not commonly used in forensic practice, our data might provide subsidiary discriminatory power in the most demanding criminal examinations, where additional markers need to be analyzed. Moreover, we performed the MDS analysis and constructed a phylogenetic tree representing genetic relationships between several European populations based on Nei's D_A distance. We show that the analysis of just 9 markers is sufficient for reliable clustering of different European populations and their separation from the populations from other geographical areas. Taken together, our data provide a reliable dataset characterizing the Slovak population, which might serve as a basis for criminal, population and kinship studies.

Linkage and linkage disequilibrium among the markers in the forensic MPS panels

For the past two to three decades, forensic DNA evidence has been analyzed with a limited number of short tandem repeats (STRs), and these STRs are usually assumed to be independent for statistical calculations. With the development and implementation of the MPS technologies, more autosomal markers, both single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and STRs, can be analyzed. A number of these markers are physically very close to each other, and it may not be appropriate to assume all these markers are genetically unlinked or in linkage equilibrium. In this study, publicly accessible genomic data from five representative populations were used to evaluate the genetic linkage and linkage disequilibrium (LD) between autosomal markers represented in six major commercial panels (in total, 362 markers). Among the 3041 syntenic marker pairs, 1524 pairs had sex-average genetic distances <50 cM, and thus, these marker pairs can be considered as genetically linked. Among the 143 marker pairs with physical distances <1 Mb, 19 LD haplotype blocks (comprising 39 SNPs in total) were detected for at least one of the tested populations. Statistical methods for interpreting linked markers and/or markers in LD were suggested for various case scenarios.

Evaluation and SNP typing of DNA from ultraviolet-irradiated human bloodstains using TaqMan assay

When detecting DNA profiles from forensic materials, it is pivotal to know the extent of degradation and which DNA marker can be genotyped. Ultraviolet (UV) is one of the common external factors that causes DNA damage, through which, an attempt to reveal cardinal genetic information can be made. In this study, after irradiation with three different UV wavelengths, UV-damaged DNA in the bloodstains was analyzed with long and short TaqMan assays using real-time PCR. In addition, both short tandem repeat (STR) profiles and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the damaged DNA at different stages of UV exposure were also assessed. With increasing in UV irradiation cycles, there was a delay of the amplification curves accompanied with a decrease in the DNA amounts collected. Despite the amplification of STR genotype was not altered after 75 cycles of UVC irradiation, all 12 SNP loci could still be detected. Furthermore, a short-assay line was detected in the absence of an amplification of the evaluation curve. The results indicate that, although the DNA template might not be useful and suitable for analysis of STR profile, this approach is of some values in detecting SNPs.

An evaluation of the SureID 23comp Human Identification Kit for kinship testing

Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling has been routinely used in kinship testing since the introduction of commercial kits in the mid-1990s. While 15 to 23 STR loci normally give definitive results in simple kinship testing, additional loci are sometimes required to resolve complex cases. The SureID 23comp Human Identification Kit, recently released by Health Gene Technologies (China), multiplexes amelogenin and 22 autosomal STRs, 17 of which are non-CODIS STRs. This enables the profiling of 38–40 loci when used in conjunction with widely used commercial kits. In this study, the kit was evaluated for kinship applications as a supplementary STR kit following the minimum criteria for validation recommended by the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) and the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) using 500 samples. Performance was comparable with other commercial kits demonstrating: repeatability and reproducibility; precision (maximum s.d. 0.1048 nt); accuracy, all alleles were within ±0.41 nt compared to the actual sizes; heterozygous peak balances at all loci >68%; stutter ratios ranged from 3.8% to 16.15%; full profiles were generated with 125 pg DNA (95.12% of alleles at 62 pg),; and we found 100% concordance over 5 common STRs with the GlobalFiler kit.

Population Genetic Analysis of Modern and Ancient DNA Variations Yields New Insights Into the Formation, Genetic Structure, and Phylogenetic Relationship of Northern Han Chinese

Modern East Asians derived from the admixture of aborigines and incoming farmers expanding from Yellow and Yangtze River Basins. Distinct genetic differentiation and subsequent admixture between Northeast Asians and Southeast Asians subsequently evidenced by the mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosomal variations, and autosomal SNPs. Recently, population geneticists have paid more attention to the genetic polymorphisms and background of southern-Han Chinese and southern native populations. The genetic legacy of northern-Han remains uncharacterized. Thus, we performed this comprehensive population genetic analyses of modern and ancient genetic variations aiming to yield new insight into the formation of modern Han, and the genetic ancestry and phylogenetic relationship of the northern-Han Chinese population. We first genotyped 25 forensic associated markers in 3,089 northern-Han Chinese individuals using the new-generation of the Huaxia Platinum System. And then we performed the first meta-analysis focused on the genetic affinity between Asian Neolithic∼Iron Age ancients and modern northern-Han Chinese by combining mitochondrial variations in 417 ancient individuals from 13 different archeological sites and 812 modern individuals, as well as Y-chromosomal variations in 114 ancient individuals from 12 Neolithic∼Iron Age sites and 2,810 modern subjects. We finally genotyped 643,897 genome-wide nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 20 Shanxi Han individuals and combined with 1,927 modern humans and 40 Eurasian ancient genomes to explore the genetic structure and admixture of northern-Han Chinese. We addressed genetic legacy, population structure and phylogenetic relationship of northern-Han Chinese via various analyses. Our population genetic results from five different reference datasets indicated that Shanxi Han shares a closer phylogenetic relationship with northern-neighbors and southern ethnically close groups than with Uyghur and Tibetan. Genome-wide variations revealed that modern northern-Han derived their ancestry from Yakut-related population (25.2%) and She-related population (74.8%). Summarily, the genetic mixing that led to the emergence of a Han Chinese ethnicity occurred at a very early period, probably in Neolithic times, and this mixing involved an ancient Tibeto-Burman population and a local pre-Sinitic population, which may have been linguistically Altaic.

Population genetics of 15 autosomal STR loci in the Han population of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Northwestern China

PURPOSE

China harbors 56 ethnic groups and Han accounts for >92% of the total Chinese population. We investigated the frequencies of 15 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci in the Han population of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture with the aim of expanding the available population information in human genetics databases and for forensic DNA analysis.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

We explored the genetic characteristics of 15 autosomal STR loci in 552 unrelated Chinese Han individuals from Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Northwestern China using the AmpFISTR Identifiler PCR Amplification Kit. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis was performed between the Han population and other relevant populations based on the autosomal STR genotyping. The neighbor-joining tree and principle component analysis were generated based on the Nei's standard genetic distance and allelic frequencies, respectively.

RESULTS

A total of 171 alleles were observed among 552 unrelated individuals and allelic frequencies ranged from 0.5145 to 0.0009. The combined power of discrimination and combined power of exclusion of the 15 autosomal STR loci were 0.9999999999999999964 and 0.999998243616671, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Population comparison revealed that the Ili Han population were lining up together with other Han populations in China while showing significant differences from other Chinese and worldwide populations.

Genetic polymorphism and phylogenetic differentiation of the Huaxia Platinum System in three Chinese minority ethnicities

Short tandem repeats (STRs) with features of high polymorphism and abundant evolution information play a significant role in genetic applications such as human forensics, anthropology and population genetics. The Huaxia Platinum System was specifically exploited to allow coamplification of all markers in the expanded Combined DNA Index System and the Chinese National Database. Herein, in continuation of our previous studies, 493 unrelated individuals were firstly genotyped to investigate the efficacy of this novel system in three minority ethnicities of China (Hui, Tibetan and Uygur). Additionally, genetic relationships among our three investigated populations and other previously published populations were analyzed using pairwise genetic distances, multidimensional scaling (MDS), principal component analysis (PCA), cladogram and STRUCTURE. The combined match probabilities (CMP) for the Hui, Tibetan and Uygur groups were 1.6894 × 10⁻²⁷, 6.1666 × 10⁻²⁷ and 5.0655 × 10⁻²⁷, respectively, and the combined powers of exclusion (CPE) were 0.999999999646627, 0.999999999304935 and 0.999999999433994. Population comparison analysis manifested that the Hui and Tibetan populations had genetic affinities with the Han, Yi and Korean populations, while the Uygur group had a close relationship with the Kazakh population. The aforementioned results suggested that the Huaxia Platinum System is a polymorphic and effective tool that is appropriate for personal identification and population genetics.

Population genetic data of Investigator HDplex markers in Han population from Southern China

Allele frequencies and forensic statistical parameters for 12 STRs contained in the Investigator HDplex Kit (D2S1360, D3S1744, D4S2366, D5S2500, SE33, D6S474, D7S1517, D8S1132, D10S2325, D12S391, D18S51, and D21S2055) were estimated from a sample of 503 unrelated individuals from the Guangdong Han population of South China. No significant departure from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or genetic linkage disequilibrium was observed (after Bonferroni correction). The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.6411 to 0.9414. The allele frequencies in Guangdong Han significantly differed from that in Shanghai Han, Korea, Northern Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Somalia, and Argentinean populations at 2 to 12 loci. The markers included in the kit have highly polymorphic information that could be used for forensic DNA analysis as potential tools for differentiating Han population from other populations in the world.

Evaluation of the InnoTyper® 21 genotyping kit in multi-ethnic populations

We report the findings of the evaluation of the InnoTyper^® 21 genotyping kit for the use of human identification (HID) and paternity testing in South Africa. This novel forensic kit evaluates 20 retrotransposable elements (AC4027, MLS26, ALU79712, NBC216, NBC106, RG148, NBC13, AC2265, MLS09, AC1141, TARBP, AC2305, HS4.69, NBC51, ACA1766, NBC120, NBC10, NBC102, SB19.12 and NBC148) and the Amelogenin locus for sex determination. The evaluation of the genotyping performance showed no significant spectral pull-up for peak heights between 100 and 30,000 RFUs. All loci presented biallelic patterns except the triallelic RG148 locus resulting from a variant insertion allele, named RG148I-1, observed exclusively in the Bantu. The InnoTyper^® 21 kit was found to be highly discriminatory between the 507 unrelated individuals of the Afrikaaner, Asian Indian, Coloured, amaXhosa and amaZulu groups. The HID parameters: the CPD ranged between 0.99999987 and 0.9999999845, and the CMP between 1.0335×10^-7 and 1.5506×10^-8. The paternity parameters: the CPI ranged between 0.0202 and 0.3177, and the CPE between 0.9161 and 0.9749. There were no significant signs of deviations from HWE or linkage disequilibrium (LD) after applying a Bonferroni correction. This kit also showed minor levels of population structure which could differentiate between the African and non-African population groups. Finally, in challenging casework with severely degraded biological material, the InnoTyper^® 21 genotyping kit was compatible with GlobalFiler^® and Investigator DIPplex^® to increase the HID parameters.

D5S2500 is an ambiguously characterized STR: Identification and description of forensic microsatellites in the genomics age

In the process of establishing short tandem repeat (STR) sequence variant nomenclature guidelines in anticipation of expanded forensic multiplexes for massively parallel sequencing (MPS), it was discovered that the STR D5S2500 has multiple positions and genomic characteristics reported. This ambiguity is because the marker named D5S2500 consists of two different microsatellites forming separate components in the capillary electrophoresis multiplexes of Qiagen's HDplex (Hilden, Germany) and AGCU ScienTech's non-CODIS STR 21plex (Wuxi, Jiangsu, China). This study outlines the genomic details used to identify each microsatellite and reveals the D5S2500 marker in HDplex has the correctly assigned STR name, while the D5S2500 marker in the AGCU 21plex, closely positioned a further 1643 nucleotides in the human reference sequence, is an unnamed microsatellite. The fact that the D5S2500 marker has existed as two distinct STR loci undetected for almost ten years, even with reported discordant genotypes for the standard control DNA, underlines the need for careful scrutiny of the genomic properties of forensic STRs, as they become adapted for sequence analysis with MPS systems. We make the recommendation that precise chromosome location data must be reported for any forensic marker under development but not in common use, so that the genomic characteristics of the locus are validated to the same level of accuracy as its allelic variation and forensic performance. To clearly differentiate each microsatellite, we propose the name D5S2800 be used to identify the Chromosome-5 STR in the AGCU 21plex.

Developmental validation of the AGCU 21+1 STR kit: a novel multiplex assay for forensic application

In this study, we describe the developmental validation assay performed on a novel designed STR multiplex system, AGCU 21+1 STR kit. This kit contains a sex-determining locus amelogenin and 21 noncombined DNA index system STR loci, that are, D6S474, D12ATA63, D22S1045, D10S1248, D1S1677, D11S4463, D1S1627, D3S4529, D2S441, D6S1017, D4S2408, D19S433, D17S1301, D1GATA113, D18S853, D20S482, D14S1434, D9S1122, D2S1776, D10S1435, and D5S2500. The 21+1 kit was validated by a series of tests including optimized PCR conditions, sensitivity, precision and accuracy, stutter ratio, DNA mixture, inhibitors, and species specificity according to the revised validation guidelines issued by the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM). Our results in this study show that the kit is a useful tool for forensic application.

Investigator HDplex markers: allele frequencies and mutational events in a North Italian population

Autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) analysis represents the method of election in forensic genetics and up to now, 23 STRs are available for these purposes. However, in particular circumstances such as human identification or complex kinship cases, examination of additional STRs may be required in order to obtain reliable conclusions. For this purpose, a new multiplex STR system, namely Investigator® HDplex kit (QIAGEN) that coamplifies a set of 12 autosomal loci, 9 of which, represents novel supplementary STRs, was recently developed. A population sample of 359 unrelated healthy subjects residing in North Italy was typed to determine allele frequencies, forensic parameters and genetic distances among European populations. Furthermore, to evaluate the suitability of the HDplex kit as an auxiliary tool for paternity testing, mutation rates were estimated on 84 confirmed family trios. The 12 loci resulted highly informative with a combined power of discrimination of 0.999998 and no departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed with the sole exception of locus D4S2366. From the comparison of our population sample and European reference populations, a single significant difference was revealed with the Poland population at D4S2366 locus. With regard to the mutation rate study, on a total of 2,016 meioses considered, six single-step mutational events were observed and the average mutation rate calculated was of 2.94 × 10(-3) per locus per generation (95% confidence interval, 1.08 × 10(-3)-6.39 × 10(-3)).

Analysis of linkage and linkage disequilibrium for syntenic STRs on 12 chromosomes

The purpose of this study is to evaluate allelic association and linkage of 18 adjacent syntenic short tandem repeat (STR) pairs form out of 30 markers located on 12 different autosomes. Linkage disequilibrium was tested by using the unknown gametic phase genotypes and phased haplotypes from 290 unrelated individuals from Chinese Han population. Genetic linkage analysis between syntenic STRs was performed based on 145 two-generation families which involved 628 meioses. The results showed no significant linkage disequilibrium at any STR pairs and independent inheritance between syntenic STR pairs was indicated. Significant linkage (maximum logarithm of odd (LOD) scores >3.0) was found in 6 out of the 18 adjacent syntenic STR pairs (D1S1627-D1S1677, CSF1PO-D5S818, D6S1017-D6S1043, D6S1043-D6S474, D12S391-vWA, and D19S253-D19S433). These significant linkage marker pairs had a genetic distance ranged from 11.94 to 41.33 cM deduced from HapMap. When recombination fractions determined in families were compared to those derived from Kosambi mapping function based on HapMap data, the latter may have an overestimation. In summary, our results demonstrated that product rule included syntenic STRs can be used for unrelated individual profile probability and the recombination fraction based on family data was superior to the estimation from HapMap for kinship analysis.

Identification of new primer binding site mutations at TH01 and D13S317 loci and determination of their corresponding STR alleles by allele-specific PCR

Several commercial multiplex PCR kits for the amplification of short tandem repeat (STR) loci have been extensively applied in forensic genetics. Consequently, large numbers of samples have been genotyped, and the number of discordant genotypes observed has also increased. We observed allele dropout with two novel alleles at the STR loci TH01 and D13S317 during paternity testing using the AmpFℓSTR Identifiler PCR Amplification Kit. The lost alleles reappeared when alternative PCR primer pairs were used. A sequence analysis revealed a G-to-A substitution 82 bases downstream of the last TCAT motif of the repeat region at the TH01 locus (GenBank accession: D00269) and a G-to-T substitution 90 bases upstream of the first TATC motif of the repeat region at the D13S317 locus (GenBank accession: G09017). The frequencies of these two point mutations were subsequently investigated in the Chinese population using sequence-specific primer PCR (SSP-PCR), but neither of these mutations was detected in any of the samples tested. In addition, the DNA samples in which the mutations were identified were amplified to type the point mutations by SSP-PCR to determine the corresponding STR alleles at the two loci. Subsequently, the amplified PCR products with different point mutations and STR repeat numbers were directly sequenced because this strategy overcomes the appearance overlapping peaks generated by different STR alleles and accurately characterizes genotypes. Thus, our findings not only provide useful information for DNA databases and forensic identification but also establish an effective strategy for typing STR alleles with primer binding site mutations.