Pitfalls and challenges with population assignments of individuals from admixed populations: Applying Genogeographer on Brazilian individuals.

The assignment of individuals to a population can be of importance for the identification of mass disaster victims or criminal offenders in the field of forensic genetics. This assignment is based on biostatistical methods that process data of ancestry informative markers (AIMs), which are selected based on large allele frequency differences between the populations of interest. However, population assignments of individuals with an admixed genetic background are challenging.

How does cell-based non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) perform against chorionic villus sampling and cell-free NIPT in detecting trisomies and copy number variations? A clinical study from Denmark.

Objectives: We aimed to compare cell-based NIPT (cbNIPT) to chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and to examine the test characteristics of cbNIPT in the first clinical validation study of cbNIPT compared to cell-free NIPT (cfNIPT).

Material And Methods: Study 1: Women (N = 92) who accepted CVS were recruited for cbNIPT (53 normal and 39 abnormal). Samples were analyzed with chromosomal microarray (CMA).

The Circadian Clock Gene Circuit Controls Protein and Phosphoprotein Rhythms in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Twenty-four-hour, circadian rhythms control many eukaryotic mRNA levels, whereas the levels of their more stable proteins are not expected to reflect the RNA rhythms, emphasizing the need to test the circadian regulation of protein abundance and modification. Here we present circadian proteomic and phosphoproteomic time series from Arabidopsis thaliana plants under constant light conditions, estimating that just 0.4% of quantified proteins but a much larger proportion of quantified phospho-sites were rhythmic.

Cytosolic phosphofructokinases are important for sugar homeostasis in leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Background And Aims: ATP-dependent phosphofructokinases (PFKs) catalyse phosphorylation of the carbon-1 position of fructose-6-phosphate, to form fructose-1,6-bisphosphate. In the cytosol, this is considered a key step in channelling carbon into glycolysis. Arabidopsis thaliana has seven genes encoding PFK isoforms, two chloroplastic and five cytosolic.

Cell-based non-invasive prenatal testing for monogenic disorders: confirmation of unaffected fetuses following preimplantation genetic testing.

Purpose: Proof of concept of the use of cell-based non-invasive prenatal testing (cbNIPT) as an alternative to chorionic villus sampling (CVS) following preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders (PGT-M).

Method: PGT-M was performed by combined testing of short tandem repeat (STR) markers and direct mutation detection, followed by transfer of an unaffected embryo. Patients who opted for follow-up of PGT-M by CVS had blood sampled, from which potential fetal extravillous throphoblast cells were isolated.

variant associated with bilateral kidney agenesis and broad intrafamilial disease variability.

Pathogenic variants in have previously been associated with renal coloboma syndrome. Here we present a novel variant c.68T>C associated with bilateral kidney agenesis, minimal change nephropathy, ureteropelvic junction obstruction, duplex kidney with hydronephrosis of upper pole system and bilateral kidney hypoplasia within the same family.

Development of an automated AmpliSeq™ library building workflow for biological stain samples on the Biomek 3000.

Here, we present the development of an automated AmpliSeq™ (ThermoFischer, MA, USA) workflow for library building using the Biomek 3000 Laboratory Automation Workstation (Beckman Coulter Inc., CA, USA), in which the total volume of PCR reagents and reagents for library preparation are reduced by one-half. The automated AmpliSeq workflow was tested using 43 stain samples (blood, bone, muscle tissue, semen, swab, nail scrape and cigarette butts) collected from crime scenes.

Ancestry prediction efficiency of the software GenoGeographer using a z-score method and the ancestry informative markers in the Precision ID Ancestry Panel.

We compared the efficiency of the freely available software GenoGeographer that includes a z-score based analysis with that of a naïve method based on the maximal likelihoods of 164 of the 165 ancestral informative markers (AIM) that are included in the commercially available kit Precision ID Ancestry Panel from Thermo Fisher Scientific. The AIM profiles were obtained by investigations with the Precision ID Ancestry Panel in our laboratory and from SNP data in the literature and publically available databases. We established eight well-defined AIM reference population data sets from 3603 AIM profiles.

Sequencing of 231 forensic genetic markers using the MiSeq FGx™ forensic genomics system - an evaluation of the assay and software.

The MiSeq FGx™ Forensic Genomics System types 231 genetic markers in one multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. The markers include core forensic short tandem repeats (STRs) as well as identity, ancestry and phenotype informative short nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In this work, the MiSeq FGx™ Forensic Genomics System was evaluated by analysing reproducibility, sensitivity, mixture identification and forensic phenotyping capabilities of the assay.

Enzyme Replacement Therapy During Pregnancy in Fabry Patients : Review of Published Cases of Live Births and a New Case of a Severely Affected Female with Fabry Disease and Pre-eclampsia Complicating Pregnancy.

Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked, lysosomal storage disease. Mutations in the gene coding for alpha-galactosidase A lead to globotriaosylceramide (Gb-3) accumulation in lysosomes and in placenta and umbilical cord. Impact of FD and treatment with enzyme replacement (ERT) on foetal development is undisclosed.

Stutter analysis of complex STR MPS data.

Stutters are common and well documented artefacts of amplification of short tandem repeat (STR) regions when using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) occurring as strands one or more motifs shorter or longer than the parental allele. Understanding the mechanism and rate by which stutters are created is especially important when the samples contain small amounts of DNA or DNA from multiple contributors. It has been shown that there is a linear relationship between the longest uninterrupted stretch (LUS) and the stutter ratio.

Quantification of massively parallel sequencing libraries - a comparative study of eight methods.

Quantification of massively parallel sequencing libraries is important for acquisition of monoclonal beads or clusters prior to clonal amplification and to avoid large variations in library coverage when multiple samples are included in one sequencing analysis. No gold standard for quantification of libraries exists. We assessed eight methods of quantification of libraries by quantifying 54 amplicon, six capture, and six shotgun fragment libraries.

Weight of the evidence of genetic investigations of ancestry informative markers.

Ancestry-informative markers (AIMs) are markers that give information about the ancestry of individuals. They are used in forensic genetics for predicting the geographic origin of the investigated individual in crime and identification cases. In the exploration of the genogeographic origin of an AIMs profile, the likelihoods of the AIMs profile in various populations may be calculated.

Evaluation of the Precision ID Ancestry Panel for crime case work: A SNP typing assay developed for typing of 165 ancestral informative markers.

The application of massive parallel sequencing (MPS) methodologies in forensic genetics is promising and it is gradually being implemented in forensic genetic case work. One of the major advantages of these technologies is that several traditional electrophoresis assays can be combined into one single MPS assay. This reduces both the amount of sample used and the time of the investigations.

Yfiler Plus population samples and dilution series: stutters, analytic thresholds, and drop-out probabilities.

The Yfiler Plus Amplification Kit amplifies 27 Y chromosomal small tandem repeat (STR) markers. The kit has five-fluorescent dye chemistry and the improved PCR buffer system of modern STR kits. We validated the kit for accredited investigations of crime scene samples by a thorough study of kit dynamics and performance.

Statistical modelling of Ion PGM HID STR 10-plex MPS data.

We investigated the results of short tandem repeat (STR) markers of dilution series experiments and reference profiles generated using the Ion PGM massively parallel sequencing platform utilising the HID STR 10-plex panel. The STR markers were identified by the marker specific flanking regions of the STR region. We investigated the following: (1) the usage of quality measures for identifying substitution errors, (2) the heterozygote balance and compared it to that of capillary electrophoresis (CE), (3) the stability of the coverage and the consequence of IonExpress Barcode adapter (IBA) sampling with decreasing amounts of template DNA, (4) the hypothesis that the parental longest uninterrupted stretch (LUS) is a better linear predictor of stutter ratio than the parent allele length, (5) the use of parental allele length as a predictor of shoulder ratio, and (6) the removal of non-systematic erroneous sequences using dynamic thresholds created by fitting the distribution of the non-systematic erroneous sequences.

Increasing the reference populations for the 55 AISNP panel: the need and benefits.

Ancestry inference for an individual can only be as good as the reference populations with allele frequency data on the SNPs being used. If the most relevant ancestral population(s) does not have data available for the SNPs studied, then analyses based on DNA evidence may indicate a quite distantly related population, albeit one among the more closely related of the existing reference populations. We have added reference population allele frequencies for 14 additional population samples (with >1100 individuals studied) to the 125 population samples previously published for the Kidd Lab 55 AISNP panel.

Effectiveness of structured, hospital-based, nurse-led atrial fibrillation clinics: a comparison between a real-world population and a clinical trial population.

Objective: A previous randomised trial showed that structured, nurse-led atrial fibrillation (AF) care is superior to conventional AF care, although further research is needed to determine the outcomes of such care in a real-world setting. We compared the outcomes of patients in real-world, nurse-led, structured hospital AF clinics with the outcomes of a randomised trial of the efficacy of a nurse-led AF clinic, with respect to a composite outcome of cardiovascular-related hospitalisation and death.

Methods: All patients were referred to the AF nurse specialist by cardiologists.

Levanase from Bacillus subtilis hydrolyses β-2,6 fructosyl bonds in bacterial levans and in grass fructans.

A Levanase, LevB, from Bacillus subtilis 168, was expressed as a His6-tagged protein in Escherichia coli. The enzyme was purified and characterised for its activity and substrate specificity. LevB has a pH optimum of 6.

Forensic and population genetic analyses of Danes, Greenlanders and Somalis typed with the Yfiler® Plus PCR amplification kit.

Recently, the Yfiler® Plus PCR Amplification Kit (Yfiler® Plus, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) was introduced. Yfiler® Plus amplifies 27 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat loci (Y-STRs) and adds ten new Y-STRs to those analysed with the commonly used AmpFlSTR® Yfiler® PCR Amplification Kit (Yfiler®, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). Seven of the new Y-STRs are rapidly mutating Y-STRs (RM Y-STRs).

Second-generation sequencing of forensic STRs using the Ion Torrent™ HID STR 10-plex and the Ion PGM™.

Second-generation sequencing (SGS) using Roche/454 and Illumina platforms has proved capable of sequencing the majority of the key forensic genetic STR systems. Given that Roche has announced that the 454 platforms will no longer be supported from 2015, focus should now be shifted to competing SGS platforms, such as the MiSeq (Illumina) and the Ion Personal Genome Machine (Ion PGM™; Thermo Fisher). There are currently several challenges faced with amplicon-based SGS STR typing in forensic genetics, including current lengths of amplicons for CE-typing and lack of uniform data analysis between laboratories.

[Pregnancy jeopardized by pseudoxanthoma elasticum].

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a rare inherited systemic disorder characterized by progressive calcification in the elastic tissue. Information about pregnancy in women with PXE is sparse. We report of a 36-year-old Caucasian woman, diagnosed with PXE, with a dichorionic diamniotic twin pregnancy, whose antenatal ultrasound scans showed a hyperechogenic placenta due to calcification.

Identifying the most likely contributors to a Y-STR mixture using the discrete Laplace method.

In some crime cases, the male part of the DNA in a stain can only be analysed using Y chromosomal markers, e.g. Y-STRs.

Evaluation of the Ion Torrent™ HID SNP 169-plex: A SNP typing assay developed for human identification by second generation sequencing.

The Ion Torrent™ HID SNP assay amplified 136 autosomal SNPs and 33 Y-chromosome markers in one PCR and the markers were subsequently typed using the Ion PGM™ second generation sequencing platform. A total of 51 of the autosomal SNPs were selected from the SNPforID panel that is routinely used in our ISO 17025 accredited laboratory. Concordance between the Ion Torrent™ HID SNP assay and the SNPforID assay was tested by typing 44 Iraqis twice with the Ion Torrent™ HID SNP assay.

Forensic genetic SNP typing of low-template DNA and highly degraded DNA from crime case samples.

Heterozygote imbalances leading to allele drop-outs and disproportionally large stutters leading to allele drop-ins are known stochastic phenomena related to STR typing of low-template DNA (LtDNA). The large stutters and the many drop-ins in typical STR stutter positions are artifacts from the PCR amplification of tandem repeats. These artifacts may be avoided by typing bi-allelic markers instead of STRs.