Dataset Information

Rapid evolution of distinct Helicobacter pylori subpopulations in the Americas.

ABSTRACT: For the last 500 years, the Americas have been a melting pot both for genetically diverse humans and for the pathogenic and commensal organisms associated with them. One such organism is the stomach-dwelling bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is highly prevalent in Latin America where it is a major current public health challenge because of its strong association with gastric cancer. By analyzing the genome sequence of H. pylori isolated in North, Central and South America, we found evidence for admixture between H. pylori of European and African origin throughout the Americas, without substantial input from pre-Columbian (hspAmerind) bacteria. In the US, strains of African and European origin have remained genetically distinct, while in Colombia and Nicaragua, bottlenecks and rampant genetic exchange amongst isolates have led to the formation of national gene pools. We found three outer membrane proteins with atypical levels of Asian ancestry in American strains, as well as alleles that were nearly fixed specifically in South American isolates, suggesting a role for the ethnic makeup of hosts in the colonization of incoming strains. Our results show that new H. pylori subpopulations can rapidly arise, spread and adapt during times of demographic flux, and suggest that differences in transmission ecology between high and low prevalence areas may substantially affect the composition of bacterial populations.

SUBMITTER: Thorell K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5322909 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Rapid evolution of distinct Helicobacter pylori subpopulations in the Americas.

Thorell Kaisa K Yahara Koji K Berthenet Elvire E Lawson Daniel J DJ Mikhail Jane J Kato Ikuko I Mendez Alfonso A Rizzato Cosmeri C Bravo María Mercedes MM Suzuki Rumiko R Yamaoka Yoshio Y Torres Javier J Sheppard Samuel K SK Falush Daniel D

PLoS genetics 20170223 2

For the last 500 years, the Americas have been a melting pot both for genetically diverse humans and for the pathogenic and commensal organisms associated with them. One such organism is the stomach-dwelling bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is highly prevalent in Latin America where it is a major current public health challenge because of its strong association with gastric cancer. By analyzing the genome sequence of H. pylori isolated in North, Central and South America, we found evidence f ...[more]

PMID: 28231283

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Project description:BackgroundHelicobacter pylori is a human stomach pathogen, naturally-competent for DNA uptake, and prone to homologous recombination. Extensive homoplasy (i.e., phylogenetically-unlinked identical variations) observed in H. pylori genes is considered a hallmark of such recombination. However, H. pylori also exhibits a high mutation rate. The relative adaptive role of homologous recombination and mutation in species diversity is a highly-debated issue in biology. Recombination results in homoplasy. While convergent mutation can also account for homoplasy, its contribution is thought to be minor. We demonstrate here that, contrary to dogma, convergent mutation is a key contributor to Helicobacter pylori homoplasy, potentially driven by adaptive evolution of proteins.ResultsOur present genome-wide analysis shows that homoplastic nonsynonymous (amino acid replacement) changes are not typically accompanied by homoplastic synonymous (silent) variations. Moreover, the majority of the codon positions with homoplastic nonsynonymous changes also contain different (i.e. non-homoplastic) nonsynonymous changes arising from mutation only. This indicates that, to a considerable extent, nonsynonymous homoplasy is due to convergent mutations. High mutation rate or limited availability of evolvable sites cannot explain this excessive convergence, as suggested by our simulation studies. Rather, the genes with convergent mutations are overrepresented in distinct functional categories, suggesting possible selective responses to conditions such as distinct micro-niches in single hosts, and to differences in host genotype, physiology, habitat and diet.ConclusionsWe propose that mutational convergence is a key player in H. pylori's adaptation and extraordinary persistence in human hosts. High frequency of mutational convergence could be due to saturation of evolvable sites capable of responding to selection pressures, while the number of mutable residues is far from saturation. We anticipate a similar scenario of mutational vs. recombinational genome dynamics or plasticity for other naturally competent microbes where strong positive selection could favor frequent convergent mutations in adaptive protein evolution.

Dataset Information

Rapid evolution of distinct Helicobacter pylori subpopulations in the Americas.

Publications

Rapid evolution of distinct Helicobacter pylori subpopulations in the Americas.

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