Regulation of motility in helicobacter pylori and the epsilon proteobacteria
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Microbes can colonize harsh and dynamic environments. Often, this ability depends on rapid responses through directed motility. Members of the Epsilon proteobacteria are found in many 'extreme' environments, including the human stomach1. We discovered that Helicobacter pylori establish bacterial colonies deep in the gastric glands, and identified a novel protein, ChePep, necessary to colonize this niche. By tracking the movement of single bacteria we found that mutants lacking ChePep cannot control the rotation of their flagella and swim with abnormally frequent reversals and even sustain bursts of movement backwards. Genetic experiments show that ChePep regulates flagellar rotation through the chemotaxis signaling system. By examining H. pylori within a microscopic pH gradient, we determined that ChePep is critical for normal chemotactic behavior. We expressed ChePep from the zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter jejuni, and the deep sea hydrothermal vent inhabitant Caminibacter mediatlanticus in H. pylori and found that ChePep is functionally conserved across the [Epsilon]-proteobacteria. ChePep represents a new family of chemotaxis regulators unique to the [Epsilon]-proteobacteria, and illustrates the differing strategies that microbes have evolved to control motility.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Copyright date | 2011 |
| Publication date | 2010, c2011; 2010 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Howitt, Michael Richard |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Microbiology and Immunology |
| Primary advisor | Amieva, Manuel |
| Thesis advisor | Amieva, Manuel |
| Thesis advisor | Falkow, Stanley |
| Thesis advisor | Monack, Denise M |
| Thesis advisor | Schoolnik, Gary K |
| Thesis advisor | Spormann, Alfred M |
| Advisor | Falkow, Stanley |
| Advisor | Monack, Denise M |
| Advisor | Schoolnik, Gary K |
| Advisor | Spormann, Alfred M |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Michael R. Howitt. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2011. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2011 by Michael Richard Howitt
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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