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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2000, p. 3646-3651, Vol. 38, No. 10
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Helicobacter pylori: Clonal Population
Structure and Restricted Transmission within Families Revealed by
Molecular Typing
Shan-Rui
Han,1
Hans-Christoph E.
Zschausch,1
Heinz-Georg W.
Meyer,1
Thomas
Schneider,2
Michael
Loos,1
Sucharit
Bhakdi,1 and
Markus J.
Maeurer1,*
Department of Medical
Microbiology1 and Department of
Paediatrics,2 Johannes Gutenberg University,
D-55101 Mainz, Germany
Received 3 April 2000/Returned for modification 11 May
2000/Accepted 31 July 2000
Helicobacter pylori infects up to 50% of the human
population worldwide. The infection occurs predominantly in childhood
and persists for decades or a lifetime. H. pylori is
believed to be transmitted from person to person. However, tremendous
genetic diversity has been reported for these bacteria. In order to
gain insight into the epidemiological basis of this phenomenon, we performed molecular typing of H. pylori isolates from
different families. Fifty-nine H. pylori isolates from
27 members of nine families were characterized by using restriction
fragment length polymorphism analysis of five PCR-amplified genes, by
pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of chromosomal DNA, and by
vacA and cagA genotyping. The 16S rRNA gene
exhibited little allelic variation, as expected for a unique bacterial
species. In contrast, the vacA, flaA,
ureAB, and lspA-glmM genes were highly
polymorphic, with a mean genetic diversity of 0.83, which exceeds the
levels recorded for all other bacterial species. In conjunction with
PFGE, 59 H. pylori isolates could be differentiated
into 21 clonal types. Each individual harbored only one clone,
occasionally with a clonal variant. Identical strains were always found
either between siblings or between a mother and her children.
Statistical analysis revealed clonality of population structure in all
isolates. The results of this study suggest the possible coexistence of
a large array of clonal lineages that are evolving in each individual
in isolation from one another. Transmission appears to occur primarily
from mother to child and perhaps between siblings.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Medical Microbiology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Hochhaus am
Augustusplatz, D-55101 Mainz, Federal Republic of Germany.
Phone: (49)-6131-393-3645. Fax: (49)-6131-393-5580. E-mail:
maeurer{at}mail.uni-mainz.de.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2000, p. 3646-3651, Vol. 38, No. 10
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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