Forensic animal DNA typing: Allele nomenclature and standardization of 14 feline STR markers

Since the domestic cat (Felis catus) has become one of the most popular pets and owners usually develop a close relationship to their cats, it is necessary to take traces of cats into account for forensic casework. For this purpose feline short tandem (STR) repeat markers have been investigated in several earlier studies, but no detailed description of sequence data, allelic variations or a repeat-based nomenclature is available. The aim of the study was to provide a suggestion for the allele nomenclature of 14 cat STR markers according to the recommendations of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG) for human DNA typing and to present a standardized system for a secure DNA …