Distinguishing human ethnic groups by means of sequences from Helicobacter pylori: lessons from Ladakh.

@article{citeulike:2974099, abstract = {The history of mankind remains one of the most challenging fields of study. However, the emergence of anatomically modern humans has been so recent that only a few genetically informative polymorphisms have accumulated. Here, we show that DNA sequences from Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that colonizes the stomachs of most humans and is usually transmitted within families, can distinguish between closely related human populations and are superior in this respect to classical human genetic markers. H. pylori from Buddhists and Muslims, the two major ethnic communities in Ladakh (India), differ in their population-genetic structure. Moreover, the prokaryotic diversity is consistent with the Buddhists having arisen from an introgression of Tibetan speakers into an ancient Ladakhi population. H. pylori from Muslims contain a much stronger ancestral Ladakhi component, except for several isolates with an Indo-European signature, probably reflecting genetic flux from the Near East. These signatures in H. pylori sequences are congruent with the recent history of population movements in Ladakh, whereas similar signatures in human microsatellites or mtDNA were only marginally significant. H. pylori sequence analysis has the potential to become an important tool for unraveling short-term genetic changes in human populations.}, address = {Department of Molecular Biology, Max-Planck-Institut f\"{u}r Infektionsbiologie, Schumannstrasse 21/22, 10117 Berlin, Germany. thierry.wirth@uni-konstanz.de}, author = {Wirth, T. and Wang, X. and Linz, B. and Novick, R. P. and Lum, J. K. and Blaser, M. and Morelli, G. and Falush, D. and Achtman, M. }, citeulike-article-id = {2974099}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0306629101}, issn = {0027-8424}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, keywords = {evolution, history, human\_diversity, pylori}, month = {April}, number = {14}, pages = {4746--4751}, posted-at = {2008-07-09 05:00:40}, priority = {2}, title = {Distinguishing human ethnic groups by means of sequences from Helicobacter pylori: lessons from Ladakh.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0306629101}, volume = {101}, year = {2004} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2974099 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2974099 TI - Distinguishing human ethnic groups by means of sequences from Helicobacter pylori: lessons from Ladakh. JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America VL - 101 IS - 14 SP - 4746 EP - 4751 AD - Department of Molecular Biology, Max-Planck-Institut für Infektionsbiologie, Schumannstrasse 21/22, 10117 Berlin, Germany. thierry.wirth@uni-konstanz.de SN - 0027-8424 N2 - The history of mankind remains one of the most challenging fields of study. However, the emergence of anatomically modern humans has been so recent that only a few genetically informative polymorphisms have accumulated. Here, we show that DNA sequences from Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that colonizes the stomachs of most humans and is usually transmitted within families, can distinguish between closely related human populations and are superior in this respect to classical human genetic markers. H. pylori from Buddhists and Muslims, the two major ethnic communities in Ladakh (India), differ in their population-genetic structure. Moreover, the prokaryotic diversity is consistent with the Buddhists having arisen from an introgression of Tibetan speakers into an ancient Ladakhi population. H. pylori from Muslims contain a much stronger ancestral Ladakhi component, except for several isolates with an Indo-European signature, probably reflecting genetic flux from the Near East. These signatures in H. pylori sequences are congruent with the recent history of population movements in Ladakh, whereas similar signatures in human microsatellites or mtDNA were only marginally significant. H. pylori sequence analysis has the potential to become an important tool for unraveling short-term genetic changes in human populations. KW - evolution KW - history KW - human_diversity KW - pylori AU - Wirth, T AU - Wang, X AU - Linz, B AU - Novick, RP AU - Lum, JK AU - Blaser, M AU - Morelli, G AU - Falush, D AU - Achtman, M PY - 2004/04/06/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0306629101 ER -