| Species/Subspecies: | Helicobacter pylori | ||||||||
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| Categories: | Motile; primarily of interest in human medicin | ||||||||
| Etymology: | Genus name: a helix shaped rod. Species epithet: of the pylorus (the lower orifice of the stomach). | ||||||||
| Significance: | [Very important] | ||||||||
| Alternative Species Name(s): | Campylobacter pylori | ||||||||
| Taxonomy: | Class Campylobacteria Order Campylobacterales Family Helicobacteraceae Genus Helicobacter |
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| Type Strain: | Royal Perth Hospital 13487 = ATCC 43504 = CCUG 15815 B, 17874 and 39500 = NCTC 11637. | ||||||||
| Macromorphology (smell): | |||||||||
| Micromorphology: | Motile rod (0.5 x 3.0 µm), which is spiral shaped, and has 4-6 flagella. | ||||||||
| Gram +/Gram -: | G- | ||||||||
| Metabolism: | Microaerophilic | ||||||||
| Catalase/Oxidase: | +/+ | ||||||||
| Other Enzymes: | Urease + | ||||||||
| Fermentation of carbohydrates: | Helicobacter spp. can neither ferment nor oxidize carbohydrates. Exception: H. pylori, which can oxidize glucose to acetate. | ||||||||
| Spec. Char.: | |||||||||
| Special Media: | |||||||||
| Disease: |
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| Virulence Factors: | H. pylori has cytotoxins, which are secreted by means of a type IV secretion system. | ||||||||
| Genome Sequence: |
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| 16S rRNA Seq.: |
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| Taxonomy/phylogeny:
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About 35 species have been described within the genus Helcobacter, and this genus is most closely related to Campylobacter, Arcobacter and Sulfurospirillum. H. pylori is closely related to H. bizzozeroni and other species (see phylogenetic trees in Fig. 93:1 and 2). | ||||||||
| Comment: | Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2005 to Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warren for their discovery of "the bacterium H. pylori and its role in gastritis and ulcer disease". | ||||||||
| Link: | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2005 | ||||||||
| Updated: | 2023-03-22 |