Low-volume amplification on chemically structured chips using the PowerPlex16 DNA amplification kit.

In forensic DNA analysis, improvement of DNA typing technologies has always been an issue. It has been shown that DNA amplification in low volumes is a suitable way to enhance the sensitivity and efficiency of amplification. In this study, DNA amplification was performed on a flat, chemically structured glass slide in 1-microl reaction volumes from cell line DNA contents between 1,000 and 4 pg. On-chip DNA amplification reproducibly yielded full allelic profiles from as little as 32 pg of template DNA. Applicability on the simultaneous amplification of 15 short tandem repeats and of a segment of the Amelogenin gene, which are routinely used in forensic DNA analysis, is shown. The results are compared to conventional in-tube amplification carried out in 25-microl reaction volumes.