大鼠脑细胞DNA含量与死亡时间关系的图像分析

运用计算机图像分析技术 ,对大鼠死后脑细胞DNA的变化进行观测 ,以寻找一种客观、量化的推断早期死亡时间的标准。实验选择 1 5只大鼠。处死后 ,在 2 4h内每隔 1h分别取脑细胞进行细胞学涂片、福尔马林液固定、Feulgen染色、自动图象分析仪测量、统计学处理。结果显示 :大鼠的早期死亡时间与其脑细胞DNA降解速率呈线性关系 ,其中积分光密度 (IOD)、平均灰度 (AG)、异形指数 (ID)提示本法有可能作为精确推断死亡时间 (PMI)的辅助手段。     

Quantifiler observations of relevance to forensic casework

The Quantifiler (QF) kit is regularly used by forensic scientists for DNA quantitation. We performed in-house validation studies which revealed some interesting observations. The QF standard displayed a two-fold difference between two different lot numbers which suggests that every standard should be tested prior to use. The Promega K562 DNA standard works well with the QF kit. c. 41% of samples that inhibited the internal PCR control (IPC) system within the QF kit still produced good Profiler Plus reactions. QIAquick was effective at removing inhibitors. The presence of dyes within casework samples were observed not to inhibit QF amplifications. Template DNA greater than 100 ng/muL appeared to inhibit the IPC. Close to identical concentration results were obtained when alternative analysis settings were used. These validation findings will assist DNA processes involved in forensic casework.     

Direct STR amplification from whole blood and blood- or saliva-spotted FTA without DNA purification

The DNA purification step has been thought to be essential for typing of STR DNA. However, this process is time-consuming, and there is a risk of unexpected cross-contamination during purification. We report a new method for direct short tandem repeat (STR) amplification using a newly developed direct PCR buffer, AnyDirect, which can amplify STR loci from whole blood and blood- or saliva-spotted FTA cards without DNA purification. The autosomal and Y chromosomal STR loci were analyzed for whole blood and blood or saliva spots of random individuals, followed by comparison of the results with those of corresponding purified DNA. The results from whole blood and blood spots showed perfect concordance with those from purified DNA without allele or locus drop-out. However, in the case of saliva spots, no amplification or locus drop-out was observed in some of the samples, which offers a topic for further study. Additionally, some commercial hot-start DNA polymerases other than AmpliTaq Gold DNA polymerase were also found to be compatible with this buffer system. Therefore, this direct PCR buffer was demonstrated to be useful for fast forensic DNA analysis or criminal DNA databases for which there is no need to store DNA samples.     

The ultrastructure of tissue attached to telogen hair roots

Most tissues encountered in forensic biology laboratories have been previously characterized with electron microscopy due to their medical importance. Anagen hair root cells, epithelial cells, erythrocytes, neutrophils, osteocytes, and spermatozoa have received considerable research attention at the ultrastructural level. There is no literature indicating that cells attached to removed telogen hair roots have been characterized with transmission electron microscopy. Nonetheless, telogen hairs are a frequent submission item to forensic laboratories for DNA typing. The amount of tissue attached to a telogen hair root usually determines whether that hair is suitable for nuclear DNA typing methods or mitochondrial DNA typing methods. This study used transmission and scanning electron microscopy to characterize the tissues found in three commonly occurring telogen hair root forms. The tissues were found to consist of keratinized remnant follicle, nonnucleated epithelial cells, nucleated epithelial cells, and trichilemmal keratin. These findings were consistent with the known principles of hair follicle regression. The recognition of the root structures that contain these specific tissue types may assist in the DNA typing of telogen hairs inasmuch as the quality of tissue present may be more important than the amounts of tissue present.     

Investigation into "normal" background DNA on adult necks: implications for DNA profiling of manual strangulation victims

Others have investigated the role that DNA profiling could play as a method for identifying the perpetrator of manual strangulation. These studies have demonstrated that it is possible to collect offender DNA from the skin surface of a victim following physical contact. It is not known whether nonself biological material is normally present on the skin surface due to adventitious transfer occurring during innocent everyday interactions. To test the hypothesis that detectable amounts of nonself DNA are normally present on the skin surface of healthy adult individuals due to the adventitious transfer of DNA occurring during normal day-to-day social interactions, we designed an experiment in three phases. Phase 1 was used to deduce which DNA collection, extraction, and amplification methods were suited to investigating this question. During phase 2, the neck surface of 24 healthy adult volunteers was swabbed. DNA was extracted using the QIAamp DNA mini kit and amplified using the SGM Plus PCR amplification kit, using 28 PCR cycles. The work carried out during phase 3 involved a simulated assault to investigate primary and secondary transfer of DNA during physical contact. It was found that 23% of neck areas swabbed during phase 2 of this investigation showed nondonor alleles in the resulting DNA profile, with 5% of areas showing six or more nondonor alleles. The results of phase 3 showed that primary, secondary, and zero transfer of victim and/or offender DNA could be observed after physical contact and that alleles from an unknown source could still be detected in this more controlled experiment. The data presented in this paper demonstrate that DNA profiles generated after swabbing the skin surface of healthy adults can include components of an unknown source, present due to adventitious transfer. These components, if present in large quantities, have the potential to interfere with DNA profile interpretation of swabs taken for the investigation of physical assault by DNA profiling.     

微量口腔脱落细胞检材的DNA检验

目的寻求提高微量口腔脱落细胞检材的DNA检验成功率的简便有效的提取方法。方法对不同载体上的100份微量口腔脱落细胞检材采用小体积Chelex-100法提取DNA,在ABI7500型荧光定量PCR仪上进行定量,同时用IdentifilerTM复合扩增系统扩增,在ABI3130遗传分析仪上进行STR分型。结果从25根饮料吸管上提取的DNA量在0.72～116.7.8ng,16个水杯杯缘提取的DNA量在2.15-142.5ng,31个饮料瓶(罐)口提取的DNA量在1～34.65ng,10根筷子上提取的DNA量在3.35～26.6ng,12个果核中提取的DNA量在0.294～21.4ng,6份吃剩的骨头中提取的DNA量在0.88～5.88ng。100份检材性别及9个以上STR位点分型成功率平均为59.38%。除了使用者的个人原因外,检材的提取送检方式、检材的质地、饮料的性质对提取的DNA量有显著影响,是否加蛋白酶K对提取的DNA量无显著影响。结论采用小体积Chelex-100法可对60%左右的微量口腔脱落细胞检材提取DNA进行STR分型。     

亲权鉴定中常用STR基因座的基因组学和遗传学分析

美国联邦调查局建立的联合DNA索引系统即CODIS系统至今已有10年,该系统确定的13个STR基因座及近年来开发的PentaD、PentaE、D2S1338和D19S433基因座被全世界范围内的实验室广泛采用,在亲权鉴定和罪犯数据库建设等方面发挥了重要的作用。本文利用Web of Knowledge核心检索系统和Elsevier等全文数据库及网络资源,对近年来常用STR基因座的基因组学特征和遗传学特征进行了深入地分析,并对这些STR基因座在实践中的应用情况进行了综述。     

A LDR‐PCR Approach for Multiplex Polymorphisms Genotyping of Severely Degraded DNA with Fragment Sizes <100 bp*

Abstract: Reducing amplicon sizes has become a major strategy for analyzing degraded DNA typical of forensic samples. However, amplicon sizes in current mini‐short tandem repeat‐polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and mini‐sequencing assays are still not suitable for analysis of severely degraded DNA. In this study, we present a multiplex typing method that couples ligase detection reaction with PCR that can be used to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms and small‐scale insertion/deletions in a sample of severely fragmented DNA. This method adopts thermostable ligation for allele discrimination and subsequent PCR for signal enhancement. In this study, four polymorphic loci were used to assess the ability of this technique to discriminate alleles in an artificially degraded sample of DNA with fragment sizes <100 bp. Our results showed clear allelic discrimination of single or multiple loci, suggesting that this method might aid in the analysis of extremely degraded samples in which allelic drop out of larger fragments is observed.     

A Grass Molecular Identification System for Forensic Botany: A Critical Evaluation of the Strengths and Limitations*

Abstract: Plant material is frequently encountered in criminal investigations but often overlooked as potential evidence. We designed a DNA‐based molecular identification system for 100 Australian grasses that consisted of a series of polymerase chain reaction assays that enabled the progressive identification of grasses to different taxonomic levels. The identification system was based on DNA sequence variation at four chloroplast and two mitochondrial loci. Seventeen informative indels and 68 single‐nucleotide polymorphisms were utilized as molecular markers for subfamily to species‐level identification. To identify an unknown sample to subfamily level required a minimum of four markers or nine markers for species identification. The accuracy of the system was confirmed by blind tests. We have demonstrated “proof of concept” of a molecular identification system for trace botanical samples. Our evaluation suggests that the adoption of a system that combines this approach with DNA sequencing could assist the morphological identification of grasses found as forensic evidence.