On the Helicobacter species isolated from the pig-tailed Macaque

In the January 1991 issue of the journal, Bronsdon et al. (2) reported the isolation, from the Macaca nemestrina stomach, of a microaerophilic, spiral, gram-negative organism that had a distinctive genotype and a unique cellular fatty acid composition. They proposed that the strain represented a new Helicobacter species and named it Helicobacter nemestrinae. The genus Macaca (L. masc. n.) was created in 1799 by Lacépède (mentioned by H. Vallois [7]) from the French name “macaque” (masc. n.). The pigtailed macaque was named Macaca nemestrinus (7). This species’ name is also reported by other zoologists (1, 5, 6). It is a general rule that the species designation to be adopted is the oldest one. To the best of my knowledge, this species’ name has not been emended in M. nemestrina. Thus, the new helical microorganism isolated from the pigtailed macaque should be named Helicobacter nemestrini (ne. me. stri’ni. L. gen. n. nemestrinus) or, better, H. macacaenemestrini (Ma.ca’cae. L. gen. n. Macaca, of the species Macaca nemestrinus). In fact, the genus Macaca is composed of a dozen different species. The rhesus monkey, the most closely related to humans, can be naturally infected by Helicobacter pylori (4). M. nemestrinus harbors a genotypically different helicobacter (2). Monkeys of different genera (e.g., the baboon species Papio papio) can be colonized by spiral organisms resembling H. pylori (3). Thus, helicobacters of various different species most probably have their ecological niche in the stomachs of other primates. I do not want to seem conceited, but I think that H. macacaenemestrini would be an all-encompassing species designation for the organism isolated from the pigtailed macaque.