DNA damage triggers genetic exchange in Helicobacter pylori.

Many organisms respond to DNA damage by inducing expression of DNA repair genes. We find that the human stomach pathogen Helicobacter pylori instead induces transcription and translation of natural competence genes, thus increasing transformation frequency. Transcription of a lysozyme-like protein that promotes DNA donation from intact cells is also induced. Exogenous DNA modulates the DNA damage response, as both recA and the ability to take up DNA are required for full induction of the response. This feedback loop is active during stomach colonization, indicating a role in the pathogenesis of the bacterium. As patients can be infected with multiple genetically distinct clones of H. pylori, DNA damage induced genetic exchange may facilitate spread of antibiotic resistance and selection of fitter variants through re-assortment of preexisting alleles in this important human pathogen.

Abstract licence: CC BY

• Corrected

  Non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals enhance the transmission of exogenous antibiotic resistance genes through bacterial transformation · 2020

• Horizontal DNA Transfer Mechanisms of Bacteria as Weapons of Intragenomic Conflict · 2016

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.