[The structural polymorphism in D8S580-STR region].

The STR structure of the D8S580 locus was analyzed by the base sequencing technique. Alleles were collected separately by urea denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the PCR amplification product, followed by cutting of the target DNA band from the gel, and reamplification. As a result, this locus was shown to have a complex STR structure consisting of four types of repeat units, i.e. GGAA (II), GAAA (III), GAAAA (IV), and GCAA (V). Of 53 unrelated Japanese individuals, 51 were heterozygous, and the most frequent allele was type IV 8-II 7 III 6 III 3 (16%). Forty-four alleles with distinct structures appeared once the samples tested. As 57 different alleles were detected in this study, this region is considered to be one of the locus that have a high degree of repetitive structural polymorphism and therefore useful in forensic science.