Helicobacter aurati sp nov., a urease-positive Helicobacter species cultured from gastrointestinal tissues of Syrian hamsters

A. novel helicobacter with the proposed name Helicobacter aurati (type stra in MIT 97-5075c) has been isolated from the inflamed stomachs and ceca of a dult Syrian hamsters, The new species is fusiform with multiple bipolar she athed flagella and periplasmic fibers; it contains urease and gamma-glutamy l transpeptidase. By 16S rRNA sequencing and repetitive element PCR-based D NA fingerprinting, it was found that H. aurati represents a distinct taxon and clusters with Helicobacter muridarum, Helicobacter hepaticus, and Helic obacter sp. MIT 94-022, H. aurati was recovered from hamsters housed in var ious research and vendor facilities. Further studies are necessary to defin e its association with disease and other microbiota in hamsters, as well as its impact on research projects involving hamsters, H. aurati (GenBank acc ession number AF297868) can be used in animal experiments to define the fac tors that are important for gastric helicobacter pathogenesis.