title: Developmental validation of short tandem repeat reagent kit for forensic DNA profiling of canine biological material.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a reagent kit that enables multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of 18 short tandem repeats (STR) and the canine sex-determining Zinc Finger marker.
  
  
  METHODS
  Validation studies to determine the robustness and reliability in forensic DNA typing of this multiplex assay included sensitivity testing, reproducibility studies, intra- and inter-locus color balance studies, annealing temperature and cycle number studies, peak height ratio determination, characterization of artifacts such as stutter percentages and dye blobs, mixture analyses, species-specificity, case type samples analyses and population studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The kit robustly amplified domesticated dog samples and consistently generated full 19-locus profiles from as little as 125 pg of dog DNA. In addition, wolf DNA samples could be analyzed with the kit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The kit, which produces robust, reliable, and reproducible results, will be made available for the forensic research community after modifications based on this study's evaluation to comply with the quality standards expected for forensic casework.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Melody
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dayton
authors.forename: Mikko T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Koskinen
authors.forename: Bradley K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Tom
authors.forename: Anna-Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mattila
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Joy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Halverson
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fantin
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: DeNise
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Budowle
authors.forename: David Glenn
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Sree
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanthaswamy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods*; D004285:Dogs; D053803:Forensic Genetics; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
chemical_list: D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D004247:DNA