Affiliation:
1. School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
2. Veterinary & Quarantine Centre, Taronga Zoo, Sydney, Australia
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The presence of
Helicobacter
species in Australian marsupials was examined systematically using microscopy, culture, and PCR in different regions of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and in the liver of brushtail possums (BTPs) (
Trichosurus vulpecula
), a common Australian marsupial that feeds on eucalyptus leaves. The spatial distribution of
Helicobacter
species in the GIT sections also was examined microscopically in silver-stained sections and by fluorescent
in situ
hybridization (FISH) using a
Helicobacter
genus-specific probe.
Helicobacter
species were found colonizing the lower bowel of all BTPs studied. Good agreement was observed between the detection of
Helicobacter
species using culture and PCR, which was supported by the microscopic examination of silver-stained sections and FISH. The lower bowel of BTPs were colonized by one to three morphologically different (a comma-shaped species with no apparent flagella, a fusiform-shaped species entwined with periplasmic fibers and a bipolar sheathed flagella, and an S-shaped species with bipolar sheathed flagella) and potentially novel
Helicobacter
species, as well as in one case with a potentially novel
Campylobacter
species, which was a tightly coiled rod with bipolar unsheathed flagella. The isolation and characterization of these
Helicobacter
species in BTPs provides important information regarding the specific natural niche of these bacteria and their corelationship within their host, and it increases our understanding of the ecology of
Helicobacter
species.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology
Cited by
12 articles.
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