Matters Microbial #83: Helicobacter — Passing the Acid Test March 19, 2025

Today, Dr. Karen Ottemann, Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology at the University of California Santa Cruz joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the fascinating strategies of Helicobacter pylori, which can cause gastric ulcers and even stomach cancer in people.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Karen Ottemann

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Links for this episode

• An overview of Helicobacter pylori and its relationship to gastric ulcers and gastric cancer.
• A video on the relationship between Helicobacteri pylori and gastric diseases.
• The story of how Helicobacter pylori was finally demonstrated to be responsible for gastric ulcers and gastric cancer.
• The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori world wide.
• When Helicobacter pylori does not cause disease:  a possible theory.
• The mechanism by which Helicobacter pylori causes gastric ulcers.
• The mechanism by which Helicobacter pylori causes gastric cancer.
• An overview of gastric cancer.
• An overview of inflammation and cancer.
• One of the articles from Dr. Ottemann’s research group discussed in this episode:  “Bacterial flagella hijack type IV pili proteins to control motility.”
• Another of the articles from Dr. Ottemann’s research group discussed in this episode:  “Helicobacter pylori cheV1 mutants recover semisolid agar migration due to loss of a previously uncharacterized Type IV filament membrane alignment complex homolog.”
• Dr. Ottemann’s faculty website.
• Dr. Ottemann’s research website.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

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