This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) An erratum has been published Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kauser, F. Articles by Ahmed, N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kauser, F. Articles by Ahmed, N.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2005, p. 1538-1545, Vol. 43, No. 4
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.4.1538-1545.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Comparing Genomes of Helicobacter pylori Strains from the High-Altitude Desert of Ladakh, India

Farhana Kauser,^1, M. Abid Hussain,^1, Irshad Ahmed,² Naheed Ahmad,³ Aejaz Habeeb,² Aleem A. Khan,² and Niyaz Ahmed^1*

Pathogen Evolution Group, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics,¹ Centre for Liver Research and Diagnostics, Deccan College of Medical Sciences and Allied Hospitals, Hyderabad,² Department of Botany, Patna University, Patna, India³

Received 19 October 2004/ Returned for modification 30 November 2004/ Accepted 6 December 2004

The genomic diversity of Helicobacter pylori from the vast Indian subcontinent is largely unknown. We compared the genomes of 10 H. pylori strains from Ladakh, North India. Molecular analysis was carried out to identify rearrangements within and outside the cag pathogenicity island (cag PAI) and DNA sequence divergence in candidate genes. Analyses of virulence genes (such as the cag PAI as a whole, cagA, vacA, iceA, oipA, babB, and the plasticity cluster) revealed that H. pylori strains from Ladakh are genetically distinct and possibly less virulent than the isolates from East Asian countries, such as China and Japan. Phylogenetic analyses based on the cagA-glr motifs, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus patterns, repetitive extragenic palindromic signatures, the glmM gene mutations, and several genomic markers representing fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphisms revealed that Ladakhi strains share features of the Indo-European, as well as the East Asian, gene pools. However, the contribution of genetic features from the Indo-European gene pool was more prominent.

F.K. and M.A.H. contributed equally to this study.