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The goal of this study was to test the species specificity of the short tandem repeat primer system FFFL by comparison of PCR results between human and non human samples.

61 DNA samples were collected, including 20 non-human primates, 28 non-primate animals, 2 plants, 7 fungi, 1 bacterium and 3 humans. DNAs were either extracted using a standard organic extraction method (CA DOJ DNA protocol) or donated and then quantitated by comparison to known standards using agarose gel electrophoresis. PCR amplifications on all 61 samples were performed using the FFFL multiplex system under the manufacturer’s recommended conditions (Promega’s GenePrintÔ F13A01, FESFPS, F13B and LPL, Madison, WI), separated by PAGE and detected using the Hitachi FMBIO^® 100 fluorescent scanner.

No DNA fragments were observed in 37 samples from non-primate animals, plants, fungi and bacteria. Distinct amplification patterns were seen for the 3 human samples as expected, with allele sizes corresponding to those within the human ladder provided. For non-human primates, amplification did occur for some species but not for all loci. Most of the products for these primates from the multiplex were either outside of the human ladder range, or could be distinguished from human allelic fragment patterns. These results corroborate previously published data (Crouse and Schumm 1995, JFS 40:952-956) for F13A1 and FESFPS and extend this work to include F13B and LPL.

These preliminary results demonstrate that the specificity for the FFFL primer system is limited to human and non-human primates. Furthermore, the majority of the STR PCR products from the non human primate DNAs migrated outside of the human allelic ladder fragments and therefore allele designations were not possible.

Funding for JK on this project was provided by a National Science Foundation Grant DBI 9531521 awarded to SBL.