Hypervariable polymorphic VNTR loci for parentage testing and individual identification.

Three kinds of variable number of tandem repeat DNA probes (VNTR: pYNZ22, pYNH24, and pYNZ2) showing hypervariable polymorphisms were studied. Allelic frequencies and their confidence intervals among Japanese individuals were obtained. Co-dominant segregation of the polymorphism was confirmed in family studies. Two a priori probabilities were calculated for each VNTR locus: exclusion probabilities for an alleged father/mother/child trio and for an alleged parent/child duo, and probabilities of matching of genotyped two unrelated individuals or two siblings. Availability as well as highly discriminating polymorphic pattern of VNTR loci makes it potentially very useful for forensic and human genetic purposes.