The highly variable methylome of the gastric cancer bacterium Helicobacter pylori
In a new publication in the renowned journal “Communications Biology”, a team of scientists from the Max von Pettenkofer Institute led by Prof. Dr. Sebastian Suerbaum and Dr. Florent Ailloud has investigated the evolution and diversity of the methylome of Helicobacter pylori. Of all pathogenic bacteria, H. pylori is the one with the largest number of DNA-methylating enzymes (methyltransferases). These MTases methylate the genome of the carcinogenic bacterium at many thousands of positions. Each H. pylori strain has a unique combination of MTases that allow the bacterium to vary its methylome individually.
Link to the publication (Open Access):