title: Coccoid form of Helicobacter pylori as a morphological manifestation of cell adaptation to the environment.
abstract: After characterization of preferred conditions for Helicobacter pylori survival in the sessile state, it was observed that the bacterium transforms from spiral to coccoid under mild circumstances, whereas under extreme ones it is unable to undergo shape modification. This strongly supports the view that transformation into the coccoid form is an active, biologically led process, switched on by the bacterium as a protection mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Engenharia Biológica, Campus de Gualtar, Universidade do Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. nunoazevedo@deb.uminho.pt
authors.forename: N F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cerqueira
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Keevil
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Vieira
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence