G. V. Rao and L. Singh
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India
Genomic DNA contains repetitive DNA sequences which are individual specific. These repetitive elements have been used as probes for DNA fingerprinting humans, animals, plants and microorganisms of interest. One such probe, the Bkm derived 2(8) probe, contains mainly GATA repeats and is being extensively used in India for forensic investigations, resolving paternity disputes and for animal and plant fingerprinting. For developing a single locus probe, a highly polymorphic human Bkm positive fragment of 3.8 kb, obtained by Bst NI digest, was cloned into pUC19 vector. The clones were screened with Bkm derived 2(8) probe and the positive clones were picked and propagated at large scale. The insert was released by Sma I digestion and labeled with 32P by random priming. The hybridization analysis showed that the cloned insert produced individual specific profiles with Bst NI digested human DNA. This probe has been designated as Bpf 3.8. It follows Mendelian laws of inheritance and the alleles are somatically stable. Currently we are assessing the potential of this probe for generating DNA fingerprints of primitive tribal groups and animals and creating a database for Indian population, the results of which will be presented at the symposium.
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