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Journal of Bacteriology, September 1999, p. 5572-5580, Vol. 181, No. 18
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

HP0333, a Member of the dprA Family, Is Involved in Natural Transformation in Helicobacter pylori

Takafumi Ando,1,2 Dawn A. Israel,1,* Kazuo Kusugami,2 and Martin J. Blaser1

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and VA Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee,1 and First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan2

Received 18 March 1999/Accepted 25 June 1999

Helicobacter pylori is naturally competent for DNA transformation, but the mechanism by which transformation occurs is not known. For Haemophilus influenzae, dprA is required for transformation by chromosomal but not plasmid DNA, and the complete genomic sequence of H. pylori 26695 revealed a dprA homolog (HP0333). Examination of genetic databases indicates that DprA homologs are present in a wide variety of bacterial species. To examine whether HP0333 has a function similar to dprA of H. influenzae, HP0333, present in each of 11 strains studied, was disrupted in two H. pylori isolates. For both mutants, the frequency of transformation by H. pylori chromosomal DNA was markedly reduced, but not eliminated, compared to their wild-type parental strains. Mutation of HP0333 also resulted in a marked decrease in transformation frequency by a shuttle plasmid (pHP1), which differs from the phenotype described in H. influenzae. Complementation of the mutant with HP0333 inserted in trans in the chromosomal ureAB locus completely restored the frequency of transformation to that of the wild-type strain. Thus, while dprA is required for high-frequency transformation, transformation also may occur independently of DprA. The presence of DprA homologs in bacteria known not to be naturally competent suggests a broad function in DNA processing.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, A-3310 Medical Center North, Nashville, TN 37232-2605. Phone: (615) 322-2035. Fax: (615) 343-6160. E-mail: Dawn.A.Israel{at}Vanderbilt.Edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, September 1999, p. 5572-5580, Vol. 181, No. 18
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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