Mechanistic insights into type I toxin antitoxin systems in Helicobacter pylori: the importance of mRNA folding in controlling toxin expression.

Type I toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems have been identified in a wide range of bacterial genomes. Here, we report the characterization of a new type I TA system present on the chromosome of the major human gastric pathogen, Helicobacter pylori. We show that the aapA1 gene encodes a 30 amino acid peptide whose artificial expression in H.