Population-dependent migration shift caused by sequence variation at the alpha fibrinogen (FGA) short tandem repeat (STR) locus.

The alpha fibrinogen (FGA) is a core short tandem repeat (STR) locus commonly used in forensic laboratories and is part of most of the commercial multiplex forensic STR kits. There are two distinct groups of FGA alleles based on their size: alleles 16-34.2 and 42.

Reduction of Powerplex(®) Y23 reaction volume for genotyping buccal cell samples on FTA(TM) cards.

PowerPlex(®) Y23 is a novel kit for Y-STR typing that includes new highly discriminating loci. The Israel DNA Database laboratory has recently adopted it for routine Y-STR analysis. This study examined PCR amplification from 1.

Long allele designations at D2S1338 and D19S433 loci as influenced by various multiplex STR kits.

European forensic laboratories are replacing the STR multiplex kits with the new generation 16/17 STR kits. This study examines the influence of the new generation kits and the new Applied Biosystems 3500xL Genetic Analyzer on the designation of long D2S1338 and D19S433 off-ladder alleles. Different allele calls were obtained using the new NGM™ (Applied Biosystems) and PowerPlex(®) ESI™ (Promega) kits compared with AmpFℓSTR(®) SGM Plus™ kit (Applied Biosystems).

Recognizing the advantage of employing the PowerPlex(®) ESI and PowerPlex(®) ESX complementary kits for purposes of clarification in routine casework.

In an effort to promote European cross-border cooperation in fighting crime and international terrorism the Treaty of Prüm was drafted and accepted within the European forensic community. This move led to the commercial development of new multiplex kits which introduced five new STR loci and promised better performance. Recently the Israel Police DNA Casework and Database laboratories adopted the PowerPlex(®) ESI kit for routine use in our laboratories.

The Israel DNA database--the establishment of a rapid, semi-automated analysis system.

The Israel Police DNA database, also known as IPDIS (Israel Police DNA Index System), has been operating since February 2007. During that time more than 135,000 reference samples have been uploaded and more than 2000 hits reported. We have developed an effective semi-automated system that includes two automated punchers, three liquid handler robots and four genetic analyzers.

Discordance at D3S1358 locus involving SGM Plus™ and the European new generation multiplex kits.

During the course of routine database sample analysis in the Israel Police DNA database, an off-ladder D3S1358 allele, calculated to be >22.1, extending into the adjacent vWA locus was observed using Applied Biosystems SGM Plus™ kit. To verify the size of this D3S1358 long allele and to ensure it was not part of a trialle pattern in the neighboring locus, the sample was amplified using three of the European new generation STR multiplex kits: NGM(TM) (Applied Biosystem), Powerplex™ ESX and ESI (Promega).