Population genetic studies on the tetrameric short tandem repeat loci D3S1358, VWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317 and D7S820 in Egypt

The short tandem repeat loci (STRs) D3S1358, VWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18 S51, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820 and a locus allowing for sex-discrimination (a melogenin) can be co-amplified by the polymerase chain reaction using a com mercially available kit (AmpFISTR Profiler plus, Perkin-Elmer Biosystems, S an Jose, CA) and subsequently typed using capillary electrophoresis (ABI Pr ism 310 Genetic analyzer, Perkin Elmer Applied Biosystems, San Jose CA). To establish databases for these loci for an Arab population sample from Egyp t, 140 unrelated persons were typed. Analysis of these data revealed that a ll loci except for VWA were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, that the combine d mean paternity exclusion chance (MEC) was 0.999875 and that the combined discriminating power (DP) was 2.635x10(-11). The allelic distributions foun d in the Egyptian sample were significantly different at four loci from tho se found for an Austrian Caucasian population, at all nine loci from an Afr ican-American sample and at six of six loci from a Chinese sample. No evide nce of linkage equilibrium between any of the co-amplified loci was found. Our results support that the combination of multiplex PCR and capillary ele ctrophoresis can both save time and yield excellent results for paternity t esting and stain analysis. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All right s reserved.