Genetic sexing of subadult skeletal remains
Abstract When subadult skeletons need to be identified, biological sex diagnosis is one of the first steps in the identification process. Sex assessment of subadults using morphological features is unreliable, and molecular genetic methods were applied in this study. Eighty-three ancient skeletons w...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47836-9 |
| _version_ | 1797452636270624768 |
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| author | Irena Zupanič Pajnič Teo Mlinšek Tadej Počivavšek Tamara Leskovar |
| author_facet | Irena Zupanič Pajnič Teo Mlinšek Tadej Počivavšek Tamara Leskovar |
| author_sort | Irena Zupanič Pajnič |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract When subadult skeletons need to be identified, biological sex diagnosis is one of the first steps in the identification process. Sex assessment of subadults using morphological features is unreliable, and molecular genetic methods were applied in this study. Eighty-three ancient skeletons were used as models for poorly preserved DNA. Three sex-informative markers on the Y and X chromosome were used for sex identification: a qPCR test using the PowerQuant Y target included in PowerQuant System (Promega), the amelogenin test included in ESI 17 Fast STR kit (Promega), and a Y-STR amplification test using the PowerPlex Y-23 kit (Promega). Sex was successfully determined in all but five skeletons. Successful PowerQuant Y-target, Y-amelogenin, and Y-chromosomal STR amplifications proved the presence of male DNA in 35 skeletons, and in 43 subadults female sex was established. No match was found between the genetic profiles of subadult skeletons, and the elimination database and negative control samples produced no profiles, indicating no contamination issue. Our study shows that genetic sex identification is a very successful approach for biological sexing of subadult skeletons whose sex cannot be assessed by anthropological methods. The results of this study are applicable for badly preserved subadult skeletons from routine forensic casework. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:11:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2ac927389f18453796c843f3215249ca |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:11:31Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-2ac927389f18453796c843f3215249ca2023-11-26T13:18:42ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-11-0113111010.1038/s41598-023-47836-9Genetic sexing of subadult skeletal remainsIrena Zupanič Pajnič0Teo Mlinšek1Tadej Počivavšek2Tamara Leskovar3Institute of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of LjubljanaInstitute of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of LjubljanaInstitute of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of LjubljanaCentre for Interdisciplinary Research in Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of LjubljanaAbstract When subadult skeletons need to be identified, biological sex diagnosis is one of the first steps in the identification process. Sex assessment of subadults using morphological features is unreliable, and molecular genetic methods were applied in this study. Eighty-three ancient skeletons were used as models for poorly preserved DNA. Three sex-informative markers on the Y and X chromosome were used for sex identification: a qPCR test using the PowerQuant Y target included in PowerQuant System (Promega), the amelogenin test included in ESI 17 Fast STR kit (Promega), and a Y-STR amplification test using the PowerPlex Y-23 kit (Promega). Sex was successfully determined in all but five skeletons. Successful PowerQuant Y-target, Y-amelogenin, and Y-chromosomal STR amplifications proved the presence of male DNA in 35 skeletons, and in 43 subadults female sex was established. No match was found between the genetic profiles of subadult skeletons, and the elimination database and negative control samples produced no profiles, indicating no contamination issue. Our study shows that genetic sex identification is a very successful approach for biological sexing of subadult skeletons whose sex cannot be assessed by anthropological methods. The results of this study are applicable for badly preserved subadult skeletons from routine forensic casework.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47836-9 |
| spellingShingle | Irena Zupanič Pajnič Teo Mlinšek Tadej Počivavšek Tamara Leskovar Genetic sexing of subadult skeletal remains Scientific Reports |
| title | Genetic sexing of subadult skeletal remains |
| title_full | Genetic sexing of subadult skeletal remains |
| title_fullStr | Genetic sexing of subadult skeletal remains |
| title_full_unstemmed | Genetic sexing of subadult skeletal remains |
| title_short | Genetic sexing of subadult skeletal remains |
| title_sort | genetic sexing of subadult skeletal remains |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47836-9 |
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