Genetic studies not only contribute substantially to our current understanding of the natural variation in behavior and health in many species, they also provide the basis of numerous in vivo models of human traits. Despite the many challenges posed by the high level of biological and social complexity, a long lifespan and difficult access in the field, genetic studies of primates are particula...

Studies are under way for the detection of potential genetic effects of atomic bomb radiation at the DNA level in the children of survivors. In a pilot study, we have examined six minisatellites and five microsatellites in DNA derived from 100 families including 124 children. We detected a total of 28 mutations in three minisatellite loci. The mean mutation rates per locus per gamete in the six...

We used an in silico approach to survey and compare microsatellites in transcript sequences of four sequenced members of genus Fusarium. G + C content of transcripts was found to be positively correlated with the frequency of SSRs. Our analysis revealed that, in all the four transcript sequences studied, the occurrence, relative abundance and density of microsatellites varied and was not influe...

Alterations in the length (instability) of gene-specific microsatellites and minisatellites are associated with at least 35 human diseases. This review will discuss the various cis-elements that contribute to repeat instability, primarily through examination of the most abundant disease-associated repetitive element, trinucleotide repeats. For the purpose of this review, we define cis-elements ...

where the pattern composed by the three bases CGG in the left sequence is transformed in five identical and adjacent copies. Additional mutational laws can cause mismatch between the bases of the pattern and the bases of the repeated copies, for this reason sometimes there is no an exact repetition of the pattern but there is an approximate repetition in which every copies of the pattern is qui...

To facilitate evolutionary and forensic studies of DNA polymorphisms on the Y chromosome, we devised a multiplex amplification procedure for short-tandem-repeat (STR) loci. Four tetranucleotide STR loci (DYS19, DYS390, DYS391, and DYS393) were simultaneously amplified with FAM-labeled primers and genotypes were determined with an automated DNA sequencer. We typed 162 males from three U.S. popul...

AIM To present the process of identification of skeletal remains from a mass grave found on a Dalmatian mountain-range in 2005, which allegedly contained the remains of civilians from Herzegovina killed in the World War II, including a group of 8 Franciscan monks. METHODS Excavation of a site in Dalmatian hinterland, near the village of Zagvozd, was accomplished according to archeological pro...

We review recent studies of distribution of dimeric tandem repeats and short oligomer clustering in DNA sequences. We nd that distribution of dimeric tandem repeats in coding DNA is exponential, while in noncoding DNA it often has long power-law tails. We explain this phenomenon using mutation models based on random multiplicative processes. We also develop a clustering measure based on percola...

BACKGROUND Monitoring the engraftment of donor cells after allogeneic stem cell transplantation is important for the early diagnosis of graft failure or relapse of disease. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the application of the amelogenin gene for the assessment of chimerism in samples of patients who had received a sex-mismatched stem cell transplantation. METHODS A polyme...

OBJECTIVE Establish a typing system for Mycobacterium leprae based on polymorphic DNA structures known as short tandem repeats (STR). DESIGN Assess 16 polymorphic STR for sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility in standard assays using reference strains of M. leprae. RESULTS Primers for 16 STR loci were selected based on PCR product size and for their ability to sequence each STR locus...