Geographic distribution of methyltransferases of Helicobacter pylori: evidence of human host population isolation and migration.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Helicobacter pylori colonizes the human stomach and is associated with gastritis, peptic ulcer, and gastric cancer. This ubiquitous association between H. pylori and humans is thought to be present since the origin of modern humans. The H. pylori genome encodes for an exceptional number of restriction and modifications (R-M) systems. To evaluate if R-M systems are an adequate tool to determine the geographic distribution of H. pylori strains, we typed 221 strains from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe, and evaluated the expression of different 29 methyltransferases.

Results

Independence tests and logistic regression models revealed that ten R-M systems correlate with geographical localization. The distribution pattern of these methyltransferases may have been orig

SUBMITTER: Vale FF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2749054 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature