What constitutes an Arabian Helicobacter pylori? Lessons from comparative genomics

Helicobacter pylori, the human gastric pathogen, causes a variety of gastric diseases ranging from mild gastritis to gastric cancer. While the studies on H. pylori are dominated by those based on either East Asian or Western strains, information regarding H. pylori strains prevalent in the Middle East remains scarce. Therefore, we carried out whole-genome sequencing and comparative analysis of three H. pylori strains isolated from three native Arab, Kuwaiti patients.

H. pylori strains were sequenced using Illumina platform. The sequence reads were filtered and draft genomes were assembled and annotated. Various pathogenicity-associated regions and phages present within the genomes were identified. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out to determine the genetic relatedness of Kuwaiti strains to various lineages of H. pylori. The core genome content and virulence-related genes were analyzed to assess the pathogenic potential.

The three genomes clustered along with HpEurope strains in the phylogenetic tree comprising various H. pylori lineages. A total of 1187 genes spread among various functional classes were identified in the core genome analysis. The three genomes possessed a complete cagPAI and also retained most of the known outer membrane proteins as well as virulence-related genes. The cagA gene in all three strains consisted of an AB-C type EPIYA motif.

The comparative genomic analysis of Kuwaiti H. pylori strains revealed a European ancestry and a high pathogenic potential.