DNA AMPLIFICATION FINGERPRINTING USING ARBITRARY OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PRIMERS

DNA amplification fingerprinting (DAF) is a strategy for genetic typin g and mapping that uses one or more very short (greater-than-or-equal- to 5 nt) arbitrary oligonucleotides to direct the enzymatic amplificat ion of discrete portions of a DNA template resulting in a spectrum of products characteristic of the DNA starting material. Polymorphisms fr om simple banding patterns are useful as genetic markers while more co mplex and informative patterns are suitable for DNA fingerprinting. Th e use of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining can ad equately resolve the spectrum of DAF products into detailed and reprod ucible patterns.