title: The polymerase chain reaction and post-mortem forensic identity testing: application of amplified D1S80 and HLA-DQ alpha loci to the identification of fire victims.
abstract: The application of DNA typing methods after amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of DNA derived from body tissues from charred fire victims was investigated. A total of 26 different tissue specimens from ten extensively burned individuals were analyzed. The samples included femoral muscle, psoas muscle, bone marrow and blood. The post-mortem period varied from 38 to 183 h. After amplifying the DNA by PCR from the various tissues, the D1S80 locus was analyzed with a high resolution polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis technique followed by silver staining and the alleles of the HLA-DQ alpha locus were detected by using a reverse dot blot format. All samples could be typed for both loci and the genotypes were consistent in the various tissues from each individual. A parentage test was performed in two cases and Mendelian inheritance of the alleles for both loci was observed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sajantila
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ström
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Budowle
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Karhunen
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peltonen
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001483:Base Sequence; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D002056:Burns / Q000473:pathology*; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D015342:DNA Probes / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005390:Fires; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D005838:Genotype; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009132:Muscles / Q000473:pathology; D010375:Pedigree; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D016658:Psoas Muscles / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D004247:DNA