title: Dynamic Expression of the BabA Adhesin and Its BabB Paralog during Helicobacter pylori Infection in Rhesus Macaques.
abstract: MostHelicobacter pyloristrains express the BabA adhesin, which binds to ABO/Leb blood group antigens on gastric mucin and epithelial cells and is found more commonly in strains that cause peptic ulcers or gastric cancer, rather than asymptomatic infection. We and others have previously reported that in mice, gerbils, and rhesus macaques, expression ofbabAis lost, either by phase variation or by gene conversion, in which thebabBparalog recombines into thebabAlocus. The functional significance of loss ofbabAexpression is unknown. Here we report that in rhesus monkeys, there is independent selective pressure for loss ofbabAand for overexpression of BabB, which confers a fitness advantage. Surprisingly, loss ofbabAby phase variation or gene conversion is not dependent on the capacity of BabA protein to bind Leb, which suggests that it may have other, unrecognized functions. These findings have implications for the role of outer membrane protein diversity in persistentH. pyloriinfection.
authors.affiliation: Center for Comparative Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Lori M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Pär
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gideonsson
authors.affiliation: California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Don R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Canfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Borén
authors.affiliation: Center for Comparative Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA jvsolnick@ucdavis.edu.|California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA.|Departments of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Jay V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Solnick
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D005838:Genotype; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013270:Stomach / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; C400429:BabA protein, Helicobacter pylori; C451032:BabB protein, Helicobacter pylori; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
keywords: Helicobacter pylori; adhesin; babA; rhesus