Evaluation of the AGCU Expressmarker 16 and 22 PCR Amplification Kits Using Biological Samples Applied to FTA Micro Cards in Reduced Volume Direct PCR Amplification Reactions

Abstract

This study evaluated the performance of the Wuxi AGCU ScienTech Incorporation (HuiShan, Wuxi, China) AGCU Expressmarker 16 (EX 16) and 22 (EX22) short tandem repeat (STR) amplification kits in reduced reaction volumes using direct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification workflows. The commercially available PowerPlex®21 (PP21) System (Promega, Wisconsin, USA), which follows similar direct workflows, was used as a reference. Anticoagulate blood applied to chemically impregnated FTA TMMicro Cards (GE Healthcare UK Limited, Amersham Place, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, HP7 9NA, UK) was used to represent a complex biological sample. Allelic concordance, first-pass success rate, average peak heights, heterozygous peak height ratios (HPHRs), and intracolor and intercolor peak height balance were determined. In reduced volume PCR reactions, the performances of both the EX16 and EX22 STR amplification kits were comparable to that of the PP21 System. The level of performance was maintained at PCR reaction volumes, which are 40% of that recommended. The EX22 and PP21 System kits possess comparable overlapping genome coverage. This study evaluated the performance of the AGCU EX16 and EX22 STR amplification kits in reduced PCR reaction volumes using direct workflows in combination with whole blood applied to FTA TMMicro Cards. Allelic concordance, first-pass success rate, average peak heights, HPHRs, and intracolor and intercolor peak height balance were determined. A concordance analysis was completed that compared the performance of the EX16 and EX22 kits using human blood applied to FTA Micro Cards in combination with full, half, and reduced PCR reaction volumes. The PP21 System (Promega) was used as a reference kit. Where appropriate, the distributions of data were assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test. For normally-distributed data, statistics were calculated using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and for nonparametric data the Wilcoxon/Kruskal-Wallis test was used. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Confidence intervals for mean values were set at 95%. On using reduced volume PCR reactions in combination with dried blood spots applied to FTA sample collection cards, both the EX16 and EX22 kits were shown to generate STR profiles of sufficient quality to allow entry into National DNA databases. The performance of both EX16 and EX22 was comparable to that of the PP21 System. This study demonstrates the successful use of the Wuxi AGCU ScienTech Incorporation EX16 and EX22 kits in reduced PCR reaction volumes with complex biological samples applied to chemically impregnated FTA sample collection cards.