Allele Frequencies of the vWA Str Locus in Italy

The tetrameric (TCTA) tandem repeat system vWa, located in intron 40 of the vWF gene, was first described by Kimpton et al. (1992). The polymorphism of this locus has been analyzed in two population samples of North and Central Italy, by the polymerase chain reaction (Saiki et al. 1985). The aim of the present study was to set up a data base, to check whether allelic frequencies show inter-regional differences and to evaluate this system for forensic purposes.