title: Vanadium accelerates polymerase chain reaction and expands the applicability of forensic DNA testing.
abstract: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been rapidly established as one of the most widely used techniques in molecular biology. Because most DNA analysis is PCR-based, the analysis of unamplifiable DNA of poor quality or low quantity is nearly impossible. However, we observed that if an appropriate concentration of vanadium chloride is added to the standard reaction mixture, the enzymatic amplification of DNA could be enhanced. Using multiplex PCR with the addition of vanadium, DNA typing was possible from even trace amounts of DNA that we were unable to amplify using normal reaction conditions. This method might be an effective tool for not only criminal investigations and ancient DNA analysis, but also for nearly all fields using DNA technology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tenodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture 305-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaminiwa
authors.forename: Katsuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugano
authors.forename: Shizue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Takeki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sekine
mesh_terms: D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D060885:Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017968:Vanadium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D017968:Vanadium Compounds