Growth phase regulation of flaA expression in Helicobacter pylori is luxS dependent

LuxS plays a role in the synthesis of an extracellular signaling molecule, autoinducer 2 (AI-2). To analyze a possible role of AI-2 in regulating Helicobacter pylori gene expression, we constructed a panel of transcriptional reporter strains. We show that the expression of H. pylori flaA is growth phase dependent and that flaA transcription increases in association with increased culture density. Mutating the luxS gene eliminates growth-phase-dependent control of flaA, and this growth phase dependence is restored when the luxS mutant strain is complemented with the wild-type luxS gene.