A Positively Selected fur-R88H Mutation Enhances Helicobacter pylori Fitness in a High-Salt Environment and Alters Fur-Dependent Regulation of Gene Expression.

ABSTRACT: Both Helicobacter pylori infection and a high-salt diet are risk factors for gastric cancer. We previously showed that a mutation in fur (encoding the ferric uptake regulator variant Fur-R88H) was positively selected in H. pylori strains isolated from experimentally infected Mongolian gerbils receiving a high-salt diet. In the present study, we report that continuous H. pylori growth in high-salt conditions in vitro also leads to positive selection of the fur-R88H mutation. Competition experiments with strains containing wild-type fur or fur-R88H, each labeled with unique nucleotide barcodes, showed that the fur-R88H mutation enhances H. pylori fitness under high-salt conditions but reduces H. pylori fitness under routine culture conditions. The fi

SUBMITTER: Loh JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9933627 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature