Role of energy sensor TlpD of Helicobacter pylori in gerbil colonization and genome analyses after adaptation in the gerbil.

ABSTRACT: Helicobacter pylori maintains colonization in its human host using a limited set of taxis sensors. TlpD is a proposed energy taxis sensor of H. pylori and dominant under environmental conditions of low bacterial energy yield. We studied the impact of H. pylori TlpD on colonization in vivo using a gerbil infection model which closely mimics the gastric physiology of humans. A gerbil-adapted H. pylori strain, HP87 P7, showed energy-dependent behavior, while its isogenic tlpD mutant lost it. A TlpD-complemented strain regained the wild-type phenotype. Infection of gerbils with the complemented strain demonstrated that TlpD is important for persistent infection in the antrum and corpus and suggested a role of TlpD in horizontal navigation and persistent corpus colonization. As a part of the fu

SUBMITTER: Behrens W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3811781 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature