Species specificities among primates probed with commercially available fluorescence-based multiplex PCR typing kits

•Peak patterns for primates obtained from two commercially available kits.•More than 20 nonhuman primate samples including OWMs and NWMs examined.•Alleles/peaks for a dozen to some STR loci obtained in ape samples.

To assess species specificities among primates of signals from short tandem repeat (STR) loci included in two commercially available kits, mainly the AmpFlSTR Identifiler kit and additionally the GenePrint PowerPlex 16 system, we analyzed 69 DNA samples from 22 nonhuman primate species representing apes, Old World Monkeys (OWMs), New World Monkeys (NWMs), and prosimians. Each prosimian species and the NWM cotton-top tamarin apparently lacked all STR loci probed. Only one peak, the amelogenin-X peak, was evident in samples from all other NWMs, except the owl monkey. In contrast, several loci, including the amelogenin-X peak, was evident in samples from each OWM species. Notably, for each ape sample, the amelogenin peaks were concordant with morphological gender of the individual. Among the primates, especially in apes, the numbers of alleles for STR loci were increasing according to their phylogenetic order: prosimians < NWMs < OWNs < apes, and so among apes: agile gibbons < white handed gibbons < orangutans < gorillas/common chimpanzees/bonobos. The species specificities among primates for a few commercially released multiplex STR kits examined in this study would contribute to forensic examinations.