Blaser Lab Group

Bacterial populations as perfect gases: genomic integrity and diversification tensions in Helicobacter pylori.

Kang J, Blaser MJ

Departments of Medicine and Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, 10016 USA.

Abstract:

Microorganisms that persist in single hosts face particular challenges. Helicobacter pylori, an obligate bacterial parasite of the human stomach, has evolved a lifestyle that features interstrain competition and intraspecies cooperation, both of which involve horizontal gene transfer. Microbial species must maintain genomic integrity, yet H. pylori has evolved a complex nonlinear system for diversification that exists in dynamic tension with the mechanisms for ensuring fidelity. Here, we review these tensions and propose that they create a dynamic pool of genetic variants that is sufficiently genetically diverse to allow H. pylori to occupy all of the potential niches in the stomach.

PMID: 17041630

Josephine Kang, PhD