Gestational choriocarcinoma whose responsible pregnancy was a complete hydatidiform mole identified by PCR analysis with new sequence tagged site primers.

We report a case where the pregnancy responsible for a gestational choriocarcinoma was not the antecedent pregnancy or the second normal term delivery, but a complete hydatidiform mole that had advanced to clinically invasive mole. This responsible pregnancy was identified by polymerase chain reaction analysis (PCR). PCR analysis was performed by using five new sets of sequence-tagged site (STS) primers on four chromosomes (chr. 1, D1S225; chr. 3, D3S1744; chr. 12, D12S1090; chr. 18, D18S849 and D18S877). The constitution of alleles of choriocarcinoma was shown to be almost identical with that of the husband on every marker. The allele patterns of choriocarcinoma on D3S1744 and D12S1090 were not observed with DNA from the patient. The band pattern originating from molar DNA was also identical with those of the husband and choriocarcinomas on D18S849 and D1S225.

Lactate dehydrogenase: a polymorphism of Anoplarchus purpurescens: geographic variation in central California.

Previous studies on the muscle lactate dehydrogenase polymorphism of the stichaeid fish Anoplarchus purpurescens in Puget Sound have demonstrated the existence of a clinal pattern of allele frequency. The LDH-A' allele was observed to increase toward the south, with several environmental factors showing correlation with this change in allele frequency. Populations from California were sampled in the present study to determine whether or not gene frequencies along an independent transect near the southern end of the species distribution are consistent with the interpretation that the geographic patterns reflect the influence of environmental factors. In California, the LDH-A' allele decreases in frequency to the south. This observation necessitates the reevaluation of possible environmental influences on the LDH polymorphism. Only one of several proposed hypotheses is completely consistent with the geographic patterns observed along both the Washington and California transects. However, the genetic differentiation along the California coast cannot be unequivically ascribed to the influence of environmental factors; current morphological data indicate the possibility of historical influences on the population genetic structure of California A. purpurescens.