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Comparative analysis of the Hom family of outer membrane proteins in isolates from two geographically distinct regions: The United States and South Korea
Author(s) -
Servetas Stephanie L.,
Kim Aeryun,
Su Hanfu,
Cha JeongHeon,
Merrell D. Scott
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
helicobacter
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.206
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1523-5378
pISSN - 1083-4389
DOI - 10.1111/hel.12461
Subject(s) - biology , genetics , phylogenetic tree , adaptation (eye) , gene , bacterial outer membrane , genotyping , evolutionary biology , population , genotype , medicine , environmental health , escherichia coli , neuroscience
Background Helicobacter pylori encodes numerous outer membrane proteins ( OMP s), but only a few have been characterized in depth. Deletion, duplication, and allelic variation of many of the H. pylori OMP s have been reported, which suggests that these proteins may play key roles in host adaptation. Herein, we characterize the variation observed within the Hom family of OMP s in H. pylori obtained from two geographically distinct populations. Materials and Methods PCR genotyping of the hom genes was carried out using clinical isolates from South Korea and the United States. A combination of statistical, phylogenetic, and protein modeling analyses was conducted to further characterize the hom variants. Results Variations in the closely related hom genes, homA and homB , occur in regions that are predicted to encode environmentally exposed loops. A similar phenomenon is true for homC S as compared to homC L . Conversely, little variation was observed in homD . Certain variants of the Hom family of proteins were more prominent in isolates from the Korean population as compared to isolates from the United States. Conclusion En masse , our data show that the homA , homB , and homC profiles vary based upon the geographic origin of the strain; however, the fourth member of the hom family, homD , is more highly conserved. Additionally, protein topology modeling showed that many of the less well‐conserved regions between homA and homB and between homC S and homC L corresponded to predicted environmentally exposed loops, suggesting that the divergence of the Hom family may be due to host adaptation/pressure.