Some VNTR Loci Typing from Single Hairs

Abstract

Hairs were taken from 11 families (57 individuals) and peripheral blood was also drawn from 5 out of the 11 families (28 individuals). DNAs isolated from the hairs and peripheral bloods were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (peR) with primers of the D1580 locus, D17530 locus, and the 3' hypervariable region of the apolipoprotein B gene. The fragment length polymorphism of amplified products (AMP-FLP) was analyzed by acrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by ethidium bromide staining. The recovery of DNA from a single hair was variable from person to person and even in an individual, 174 nq/hair on average, which was sufficient for analysis of the 3 genetic loci. The AMP-FLP of the hairs was identical to that of the peripheral blood in all 3 genetic loci examined. The inheritance pattern of the 3 genetic loci was analyzed in amplified products of hair DNA, demonstrating exclusively Mendelian inheritance in all 11 families. Using hair DNAs of the 11 families, 15 alleles were detected in the D1580 locus, 11 alleles in the D17530 locus, and 9 alleles in the 3' hypervariable region of apolipoprotein B gene. Thus, analyses of genetic loci could be performed using hair DNA instead of peripheral blood DNA, when an appropriate amplification method is available and blood sampling is for some reason difficult.