Autosomal Short Tandem Repeat Analysis of Ancient DNA by Coupled Use of Mini- and Conventional STR Kits

Multiplex autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) genotyping enables researchers to obtain genetic information from ancient human samples. In this study, we tested newly developed AmpFℓSTR ^® MiniFiler™ kit for autosomal STR analysis of ancient DNA (aDNA), using human femurs (n=8) collected from medieval Korean tombs. After extracting aDNA from the bones, autosomal STR analyses were repeated for each sample using the AmpFℓSTR ^® MiniFiler™ and Identifiler™ kits. Whereas only 21.87% of larger-sized loci profiles could be obtained with the Identifiler™ kit, 75% of the same loci profiles were determined by MiniFiler™ kit analysis. This very successful amplification of large-sized STR markers from highly degraded aDNA suggests that the MiniFiler™ kit could be a useful complement to conventional STR kit analysis of ancient samples.