Investigation of species specificity using nine PCR-based human STR systems

Several eukaryotic genomes contain polymorphic markers consisting of trimeric and tetrameric short tandem repeats (STR). Recent reports have demonstrated the variability of short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphisms at a variety of loci among several human population groups. Currently, there are nine commercially available STR PCR systems from Promega Corporation that may be utilized for human identification. We report here the analysis of 23 different species DNA's using these nine STR primer systems to assess their specificity for human euchromatin. The STR systems tested include, CSF1PO, TPOX, THO1, HPRTB, FESFPS, vWF and F13A01 as single systems and as triplex systems (CSF1PO/TPOX/THO1 and HPRTB/FESFPS/vWF). There were no STR PCR products observed for seventeen of the twenty-three species regardless of the STR system. Amplified STR fragments were detected in rhesus DNA for CSF1PO, TPOX and HPRTB systems. STR PCR products were detected for human, gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan DNAs using eight of the nine systems. FESFPS primers did not amplify DNA fragments from any of the species tested. Most of the STR PCR products detected from primate DNAs electrophoretically migrated outside of the human allelic ladder fragments and as a result, allele designations were not possible.