Evaluation of a new pooling strategy based on leukocyte count for rapid quantification of allele frequencies.

Abstract Background: Allele frequencies of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can be quantified from DNA pools. The conventional preparation of DNA pools requires DNA isolation and quantification for each blood sample. We hypothesized that pooling of whole blood samples according to their leukocyte count, which determines DNA content, would be as reliable as the conventional pooling method but much less tedious to perform. Methods: We collected 100 whole blood samples and measured the leukocyte count. Samples were frozen until further use. After thawing, pools were generated by combining aliquots containing an equal number of leukocytes. In parallel, DNA was extracted from another aliqu…