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Characterization of Helicobacter felis by Pulsed‐Field Gel Electrophoresis, Plasmid Profiling and Ribotyping
Author(s) -
Jalava, Katri,
De Ungria, Maria Corazon,
O’Rourke, Jani,
Lee, Adrian,
Hirvi, Urszula,
Hänninen MarjaLiisa
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
helicobacter
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.206
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1523-5378
pISSN - 1083-4389
DOI - 10.1046/j.1523-5378.1999.09040.x
Subject(s) - felis , pulsed field gel electrophoresis , biology , ribotyping , plasmid , helicobacter , microbiology and biotechnology , dna profiling , genetics , polymerase chain reaction , cats , dna , helicobacter pylori , genotype , gene , medicine
Background. Helicobacter felis , an organism naturally infecting both canine and feline gastric mucosa, has been largely used as in animal models to study the ecology and treatment of human Helicobacter pylori infections. H. felis has not yet been studied at the genetic level. Methods. The aims of this study were to modify an in situ DNA isolation method suitable for H. felis and, by the use of pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), plasmid profiling, and ribotyping, to determine the degree of genetic variation among H. felis strains isolated from cats and dogs from various geographic locations, and to determine the genome size of H. felis. Furthermore, the ability of these new H. felis strains to colonize mice was tested. Results. Most H. felis strains were distinguishable from each other, and 20 distinct PFGE types were detected. Four pairs of strains within a country and animal species produced identical patterns. All strains tested were found to carry several plasmids and plasmid profiling was equally discriminatory to PFGE. Ribotyping was not able to discriminate all the strains. Conclusions. The genome size of H. felis was found to be ≈ 1.6 Mb.