Evaluating the efficacy of three Y-STRs commercial kits in degraded skeletal remains

• Published in: Science & justice Vol. 64; no. 5; pp. 543 - 548
• Main Authors: Haarkötter, Christian, Isabel Medina-Lozano, María, Vinueza-Espinosa, Diana C., Saiz, María, Gálvez, Xiomara, Carlos Álvarez, Juan, Antonio Lorente, José
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2024
• Subjects: Degraded human DNA; Degraded samples; Skeletal remains; Y chromosome; Y-STRs; Degraded samples; Skeletal remains; Y-STRs; Y chromosome; Degraded human DNA
• ISSN: 1355-0306; 1876-4452; 1876-4452
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scijus.2024.07.007

•Three Y-STRs amplification kits were tested with 63 critical skeletal remain samples.•PowerPlex® Y23 achieves more RFU and reportable loci than the other kits.•The newly developed Investigator® Argus® Y-28 showed a good performance. Y chromosome short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) typing is a useful tool in scenarios such as mass graves analysis or disaster victim identification and has become a routine analysis in many laboratories. Not many comparisons have been performed with the currently available commercial kits, much less with degraded skeletal remains. This research aims to evaluate the performance of three commercial Y-STR kits: Yfiler™ Plus, PowerPlex® Y23, and Investigator® Argus Y-28 in 63 degraded skeletal remains from mass graves. PowerPlex® Y23 yields more reportable markers and twice the RFU on average, while Yfiler™ Plus and Investigator® Argus Y-28 exhibited a similar behaviour. Additionally, Argus Y-28, which has not been tested with this kind of samples in literature before, showed a good performance. Finally, a predictive model was attempted to be developed from quantification and autosomal STR data. However, no acceptable model could be obtained. Nevertheless, good Y-STR typing results may be expected if at least 50 pg DNA input is used or 13 autosomal markers were previously obtained.