Quasispecies development of Helicobacter pylori observed in paired isolates obtained years apart from the same host.
Helicobacter pylori isolates show greater genetic diversity than other bacterial species studied, but the basis for this phenomenon is unknown. Whether detectable genomic mutation appears within an H. pylori population during persistent colonization was investigated. Paired H. pylori populations obtained across 7- to 10-year intervals from 13 patients were characterized by use of methods including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genotyping for cagA, vacA, iceA, recA, and IS605; random arbitrarily primed DNA (RAPD)-PCR and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis; and ELISA, to determine Lewis phenotypes. Genotyping, including recA sequence analysis, revealed that initial and follow-up populations represented the same population in 11 patients (85%). Nevertheless, distinct dissimilarities were shown within each of these 11 pairs by both RAPD-PCR and AFLP analyses. During follow-up, Lewis-y levels, but not Lewis-x levels, decreased significantly. The changes detected by RAPD-PCR and AFLP indicate that genetic drift occurs within H. pylori populations over the course of years of colonization of a single host.
Kuipers
E J
EJ
Division of Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and VA Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. kuipers@azvu.nl
Israel
D A
DA
Kusters
J G
JG
Gerrits
M M
MM
Weel
J
J
van Der Ende
A
A
van Der Hulst
R W
RW
Wirth
H P
HP
Höök-Nikanne
J
J
Thompson
S A
SA
Blaser
M J
MJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; C074689:VacA protein, Helicobacter pylori; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori; C063113:ice nucleation protein