Multiple Acid Sensors Control Helicobacter pylori Colonization of the Stomach.

ABSTRACT: Helicobacter pylori's ability to respond to environmental cues in the stomach is integral to its survival. By directly visualizing H. pylori swimming behavior when encountering a microscopic gradient consisting of the repellent acid and attractant urea, we found that H. pylori is able to simultaneously detect both signals, and its response depends on the magnitudes of the individual signals. By testing for the bacteria's response to a pure acid gradient, we discovered that the chemoreceptors TlpA and TlpD are each independent acid sensors. They enable H. pylori to respond to and escape from increases in hydrogen ion concentration near 100 nanomolar. TlpD also mediates attraction to basic pH, a response dampened by another chemoreceptor TlpB. H. pylori mutants lacking both TlpA and TlpD (Δt

SUBMITTER: Huang JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5245789 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature