APPLICATIONS OF MINISATELLITE VARIANT REPEAT (MVR) MAPPING FOR MATERNAL IDENTIFICATION FROM REMAINS OF AN INFANT AND PLACENTA

Minisatellite variant repeat (MVR) mapping using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at D1S8 (MS32) was applied to a practical forensic case of an infant and placenta found in an incinerator. They were thought to be left for a few days postmortem, and the infant was severely burn t when found. DNA was extracted from the infantile muscle and maternal placental hematoma. MVR-PCR analysis as well as other common DNA typi ng (D1S80, HLA-DQA1) were performed on both DNA samples. Both MVR dipl oid codes were matched although some extra faint bands in the ladder w ere observed from the maternal placental sample, which probably indica ted superimposing of an allele derived only from the mother, and not t he infant. In order to detect the original maternal alleles, three fla nking polymorphic sites were typed and allele-specific MVR-PCR was per formed. Finally, one maternal allele not inherited by the infant and t wo alleles from the infant were typed. Two alleles suggested the infan t and/or mother was Japanese. The two diploid codes including one poss ibly from the mother were deduced and compared with other codes in the databases for evaluating the discriminating power.