Two-component systems of Helicobacter pylori contribute to virulence in a mouse infection model.

Helicobacter pylori encodes three histidine kinases and five response regulators belonging to the family of two-component regulatory systems which are involved in transcriptional control. Here we demonstrate that isogenic mutants of H. pylori P76 with deletions of the response regulator open reading frame (ORF) HP1365 and ORFs HP244, HP165, and HP1364 encoding histidine kinases are unable to colonize the stomachs of BALB/c mice, suggesting an essential role of these systems in the regulation of important virulence properties of H. pylori. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the genes under the control of the P(HP1408) and P(HP119) promoters which are regulated by the two-component system HP166-HP165 are not essential for single mutant colonization of mice but are required under competitive colonization conditions.