HumCD4--validation of a STR system for forensic purposes in an Austrian Caucasian population sample

The short tandem repeat system HumCD4 was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on blood samples from 304 unrelated Austrian Caucasians and analyzed by horizontal, non-denaturing polyacrylamide electrophoresis. The mean exclusion chance was 0.417, the discriminating power 0.850 and the heterozygosity rate 0.628. The observed phenotype distribution is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. In 100 families (200 meioses) no mutations were found. Sufficient amplification could be achieved with as little as 80 pg of high molecular weight cell-line DNA. In a degradation experiment DNA extracted from bloodstains stored for up to 28 days in a moist chamber and DNA boiled for up to 18 min could be amplified. A duplex PCR with TH01 is proposed.