Detection of frequent BglII polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction and TaqI restriction fragment length polymorphism for 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/delta 5-delta 4 isomerase at the human HSD beta 3 locus (1p11-p13).

Analysis of amplified polymerase chain reaction products of 575 bp from the fourth exon of the human type I 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/delta 5-delta 4 isomerase gene at locus HSD beta 3 1p11-p13, reveals a frequent two-allele polymorphism at codon Leu338 due to a silent substitution of T by C, thus creating a BglII site leading to 371- and 204-bp fragments. Southern blot analysis of BglII-digested DNA from 57 individuals using a genomic probe detects two allelic fragments of 5.3 kb and 0.77 kb, respectively, while two allelic fragments of 3.7 kb and 3.4 kb are obtained in TaqI digests with multiple constant bands, as also observed with BglII digests.