ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 4

Anomalous Migration of PCR Products Using Nondenaturing Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis: The Amelogenin Sex-Typing System
Eng, B
Technologist, DNA Diagnostic Laboratory, McMaster University Medical Centre, Hamilton,

Waye, JS
Co-Director, DNA Diagnostic Laboratory, McMaster University Medical Centre, Ontario

Ainsworth, P
Director, DNA Diagnostic Laboratory, Victoria Hospital/Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, Ontario

(Received 22 February 1994; accepted 17 May 1994)

Abstract

Sex-typing of biological samples can be accomplished using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify DNA sequences that are specific for the Y-chromosome. One such system is based on PCR amplification of the X-chromosome amelogenin gene and the amelogenin-like sequences located near the centromere of the Y-chromosome. The X and Y PCR products can be distinguished from each other on the basis of a 177 basepair (bp) insertion in the X relative to the Y. In this report, we demonstrate that the amelogenin PCR products migrate anomalously using non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (ND-PAGE) as opposed to agarose gel electrophoresis or denaturing PAGE. These results may be relevant to the choice of electrophoretic system used to analyze highly polymorphic loci for individual identification.

Keywords:
pathology and biology, sex-typing, polymerase chain reaction, amelogenin gene, electrophoretic anomalies, nondenaturing PAGE

Paper ID: JFS13724J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS13724J
ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.