TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of circular DNA substrates for whole genome amplification prior to forensic analysis
AU - Tate, Courtney M.
AU - Nuñez, Ada N.
AU - Goldstein, Cori A.
AU - Gomes, Iva
AU - Robertson, James M.
AU - Kavlick, Mark F.
AU - Budowle, Bruce
N1 - Funding Information:
This is publication number 10–22 of the Laboratory Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Names of commercial manufacturers are provided for identification purposes only, and inclusion does not imply endorsement of the manufacturer, or its products or services by the FBI. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the FBI or the U.S. Government. This research was supported in part by the Visiting Scientist Program of the FBI Laboratory, an educational opportunity administered by Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - Forensic biological evidence often contains low quantities of DNA or substantially degraded DNA which makes samples refractory to genotype analysis. One approach that shows promise to overcome the limited quantity of DNA is whole genome amplification (WGA). One WGA technique, termed rolling circle amplification (RCA), involves the amplification of circular DNA fragments and this study evaluates a single-stranded (ss) DNA ligase enzyme for generating circular DNA templates for RCA WGA. Fast, efficient ligation of several sizes of ssDNA templates was achieved. The enzyme also ligated double-stranded (ds) DNA templates, a novel activity not previously reported. Adapter sequences containing optimal terminal nucleotide ends for increased ligation efficiency were designed and ligation of adapters to template DNA was optimized. Increased amplification of DNA templates was observed following WGA; however, no amplification advantage for ssDNA ligase treatment of templates was evident compared to linear templates. A multi-step process to utilize ssDNA ligase prior to WGA was developed and short tandem repeat (STR) analysis of simulated low template (LT) and fragmented DNA was evaluated. The process resulted in the loss of template DNA and failed STR analysis whereas input of linear genomic DNA template directly into WGA prior to STR analysis improved STR genotyping results compared to non-WGA treated samples. Inclusion of an extreme thermostable single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) during WGA also increased DNA yields. While STR artifacts such as peak imbalance, drop-in, and dropout persisted, WGA shows potential for successful genetic profiling of LT and fragmented DNA samples. Further research and development is warranted prior to use of WGA in forensic casework.
AB - Forensic biological evidence often contains low quantities of DNA or substantially degraded DNA which makes samples refractory to genotype analysis. One approach that shows promise to overcome the limited quantity of DNA is whole genome amplification (WGA). One WGA technique, termed rolling circle amplification (RCA), involves the amplification of circular DNA fragments and this study evaluates a single-stranded (ss) DNA ligase enzyme for generating circular DNA templates for RCA WGA. Fast, efficient ligation of several sizes of ssDNA templates was achieved. The enzyme also ligated double-stranded (ds) DNA templates, a novel activity not previously reported. Adapter sequences containing optimal terminal nucleotide ends for increased ligation efficiency were designed and ligation of adapters to template DNA was optimized. Increased amplification of DNA templates was observed following WGA; however, no amplification advantage for ssDNA ligase treatment of templates was evident compared to linear templates. A multi-step process to utilize ssDNA ligase prior to WGA was developed and short tandem repeat (STR) analysis of simulated low template (LT) and fragmented DNA was evaluated. The process resulted in the loss of template DNA and failed STR analysis whereas input of linear genomic DNA template directly into WGA prior to STR analysis improved STR genotyping results compared to non-WGA treated samples. Inclusion of an extreme thermostable single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) during WGA also increased DNA yields. While STR artifacts such as peak imbalance, drop-in, and dropout persisted, WGA shows potential for successful genetic profiling of LT and fragmented DNA samples. Further research and development is warranted prior to use of WGA in forensic casework.
KW - Forensic DNA analysis
KW - Multiple displacement amplification (MDA)
KW - Rolling circle amplification (RCA)
KW - Whole genome amplification (WGA)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84857059479&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.fsigen.2011.04.011
DO - 10.1016/j.fsigen.2011.04.011
M3 - Article
C2 - 21570374
AN - SCOPUS:84857059479
SN - 1872-4973
VL - 6
SP - 185
EP - 190
JO - Forensic Science International: Genetics
JF - Forensic Science International: Genetics
IS - 2
ER -