A TaqMan assay to distinguish SEC1 and SEC1-FUT2 hybrid alleles was designed for the purpose of dealing with large number of samples.
The results of the present method were fully consistent with those of the previous method for detection of sefus in the Japanese population. In addition, a novel SEC1-FUT2-SEC1 hybrid allele, which contains a 35-bp sequence (between positions 418 and 452) that is identical to the FUT2 sequence including a 13-bp FUT2-specific region (between positions 436 and 448), was encountered in an individual of European descent.
The present TaqMan assay is a reliable and powerful method for the large scale association study between disease susceptibility and FUT2 genotypes especially in the Japanese populations because of relative high frequency of sefus. In addition, this method is a useful tool to find novel SEC1-FUT2 hybrid alleles.