New world Helicobacter pylori genome sequenced, dynamics of inflammation-related genes revealed
Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - 15:01
in Biology & Nature
An international team of researchers led by scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech have sequenced the genome of an Amerindian strain of the gastric bug Helicobacter pylori, confirming the out-of-Africa migration of this bacterial stowaway to the New World. Experiments in animals have highlighted how specific genes in the bacterial strain may be crucial to the onset of inflammation and disease.