ABSTRACT
Forensic DNA testing most frequently includes analysis of short tandem repeat (STR) markers. STRs are routinely utilized for comparison of autosomal and Y-chromosomal DNA for paternity testing (Barrot et al. 2011a,b; Carboni et al. 2011; Chakraborty and Opitz 2005; H. Li et al. 2011; Pena and Chakraborty 1994), criminal investigation (Drobnic 2001; X. Li et al. 2011; Poetsch et al. 2011; Schneider and Martin 2001; Zech et al. 2012), human remains identication (Alvarez-Cubero et al. 2012; Gill et al. 1994; Hartman et al. 2011; Leclair et al. 2004; Rucinski et al. 2011; Schwark et al. 2011), and population structure analysis (Babiker et al. 2011; Bosch et al. 2000; Dulik et al. 2012; Liu et al. 2011; Trovoada et al. 2001). e current method for STR analysis involves polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplication of the target STR loci using a commercialized kit followed by fragment analysis of uorescently labeled amplicons via capillary electrophoresis (CE) (Butler 2007; Butler and Hill 2012; Liu et al. 2007; Yeung et al. 2006). e data resulting from STR analysis using the CE method consists of the number of repeat motifs present for alleles at each locus relative to an allelic ladder. However, analysis of the uorescently labeled amplicons using CE cannot identify dierences in nucleotide composition of the amplied region other than those that alter fragment size (e.g., insertions/deletions).
