Lipopolysaccharide diversity evolving in Helicobacter pylori communities through genetic modifications in fucosyltransferases.

ABSTRACT: Helicobacter pylori persistently colonizes the gastric mucosa of half the human population. It is one of the most genetically diverse bacterial organisms and subvariants are continuously emerging within an H. pylori population. In this study we characterized a number of single-colony isolates from H. pylori communities in various environmental settings, namely persistent human gastric infection, in vitro bacterial subcultures on agar medium, and experimental in vivo infection in mice. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-antigen chain revealed considerable phenotypic diversity between individual cells in the studied bacterial communities, as demonstrated by size variable O-antigen chains and different levels of Lewis glycosylation. Absence of high-molecular-weight O-antigen chains was notable in

SUBMITTER: Nilsson C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2583950 | biostudies-literature | 2008

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature