[Detection of prehistoric human migration by Helicobacter pylori].

Helicobacter pylori is not only a well known gastroduodenal pathogen but also a useful marker for tracing prehistoric footprints of human populations. Because H. pylori transmits mainly through vertical infection and has been carried in our stomach from generation to generation, its geneology well reflects that of human. We investigated genes of H. pylori from a wide variety of ethnicity and predicted the journey of ancient people after the departure from the African Continent in 100 to 50 thousand years ago. Analysis of genotypes of single genes, multi locus sequence typing, and also with the aid of next generation sequencer, we identified a group of H. pylori strains that diverged remarkably old era in Okinawa, Japan.