Occurrence of Helicobacter pylori DNA in the coastal environment of southern Italy (Straits of Messina).
OBJECTIVE
The occurrence of Helicobacter pylori in the coastal zone of the Straits of Messina (Italy) as free-living and associated with plankton was studied.


RESULTS
Monthly sampling of seawater and plankton was carried out from April 2002 to March, 2003. All environmental samples analysed by cultural method, did not show the presence of H. pylori. The DNA extracted from all environmental samples was tested by PCR by using primers for H. pylori 16S rRNA, ureA and cagA. 16S rRNA PCR yielded amplified products of 522-bp in 15 of 36 (41.7%) of the environmental samples. By using the ureA primers to amplify the urea signal sequences, the predicted PCR products of 491-bp were obtained from eight (22.2%) of 36 environmental samples. PCR with cagA primers yielded amplified products of 349-bp in DNA extracted of seven of 36 (19.4%) of the environmental samples. When 16S rRNA, ureA and cagA amplified gene sequences were aligned with H. pylori 26695 and J99 genome sequences, we obtained a percentage of alignment over 90%.


CONCLUSIONS
The detection of H. pylori genes in marine samples allows us to consider the marine environment a possible reservoir for this pathogenic bacterium.


CONCLUSIONS
The direct detection of H. pylori genes may be relevant in order to consider the marine environment as significant reservoir for this bacterium.
Carbone
M
M
Dipartimento di Patologia e Microbiologia Sperimentale, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Italy.
Maugeri
T L
TL
Gugliandolo
C
C
La Camera
E
E
Biondo
C
C
Fera
M T
MT
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010933:Plankton; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000032:analysis*; D012623:Seawater; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014871:Water Microbiology
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; C080866:cagA protein, Helicobacter pylori