Helicobacter pylori genomes reveal Paleolithic human migration to the east end of Asia
Rumiko Suzuki,
Naruya Saitou,
Osamu Matsuari,
Seiji Shiota,
Takashi Matsumoto,
Junko Akada,
Nagisa Kinjo,
Fukunori Kinjo,
Kuniko Teruya,
Makiko Shimoji,
Akino Shiroma,
Mototsugu Kato,
Kazuhito Satou,
Takashi Hirano,
Masahiro Asaka,
Kirill Kryukov,
Yoshan Moodley,
Yoshio Yamaoka
Affiliations
Rumiko Suzuki
Department of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, 1-1 Idaigaoka, Hasama-machi, Yufu City, Oita Prefecture 879-5593, Japan
Naruya Saitou
Population Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, 1111 Yata, Mishima 411-8540, Japan
Osamu Matsuari
Department of Gastroenterology, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, 1-1 Idaigaoka, Hasama-machi, Yufu 879-5593, Japan
Seiji Shiota
Department of General Medicine, OIta University Faculty of Medicine, Japan
Takashi Matsumoto
Department of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, 1-1 Idaigaoka, Hasama-machi, Yufu City, Oita Prefecture 879-5593, Japan
Junko Akada
Department of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, 1-1 Idaigaoka, Hasama-machi, Yufu City, Oita Prefecture 879-5593, Japan
Nagisa Kinjo
Ryusei Hospital, Naha 902-0066, Japan
Fukunori Kinjo
Center for Gastroenterology, Urasoe General Hospital, Urasoe 901-2132, Japan
Kuniko Teruya
Okinawa Institute of Advanced Sciences, 5-1 Suzaki, Uruma 904-2234, Japan
Makiko Shimoji
Okinawa Institute of Advanced Sciences, 5-1 Suzaki, Uruma 904-2234, Japan
Akino Shiroma
Okinawa Institute of Advanced Sciences, 5-1 Suzaki, Uruma 904-2234, Japan
Mototsugu Kato
Hakodate National Hospital, 18-16 Kawahara, Hakodate 041-8512, Japan
Kazuhito Satou
Okinawa Institute of Advanced Sciences, 5-1 Suzaki, Uruma 904-2234, Japan
Takashi Hirano
Okinawa Institute of Advanced Sciences, 5-1 Suzaki, Uruma 904-2234, Japan
Masahiro Asaka
Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Ishikari-gun 061-0293, Japan
Kirill Kryukov
Population Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, 1111 Yata, Mishima 411-8540, Japan
Yoshan Moodley
Department of Zoology, University of Venda, 2002 University Road, Thohoyandou 0950, Republic of South Africa
Yoshio Yamaoka
Department of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, 1-1 Idaigaoka, Hasama-machi, Yufu City, Oita Prefecture 879-5593, Japan; Department of Medicine-Gastroenterology, Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E. Debakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 2002 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: A virulence bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, evolved parallel to its host human, therefore, can work as a marker for tracing the human migration. We found H. pylori strains indigenous in the southernmost islands of Japanese Archipelago, Okinawa, and defined them as hspOkinawa and hpRyukyu. Genome data of the strains revealed that hspOkinawa diverged from other East Asian strains about 20,000 years ago, and that hpRyukyu diverged about 45,000 years ago. The closest strains of hpRyukyu were found from Afghanistan, Punjab, and Nepal, which suggest this strain originated in the central Asia and traveled across the Eurasian continent during Paleolithic era. The divergence date of hpRyukyu corresponds with human fossil records in Okinawa. Although it is controversial from human DNA analyses whether descendants of the Paleolithic migrants remain in the modern Japanese population, this study reveals that the bacterium of Paleolithic origin remains in the stomachs of current Japanese.
