JCM Accepts, published online ahead of print on 21 October 2009

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Google Scholar Articles by Wang, B.-y. Articles by Xie, H. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wang, B.-y. Articles by Xie, H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J. Clin. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/JCM.00072-09
Copyright (c) 2009, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Negative correlation of distribution of Streptococcus cristatus strains and Porphyromonas gingivalis in subgingival plaque

Bing-yan Wang, Jie Wu, Richard J. Lamont, Xinghua Lin, and Hua Xie^*

School of Dentistry, Meharry Medical College, Nashville TN; Department of Periodontics and Endodontics, State University of New York at Buffalo, and Department of Oral Biology, University of Florida

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: hxie{at}mmc.edu.

Porphyromonas gingivalis is one of the major causative agents of adult periodontitis. One of the features of this periodontal pathogen is its ability to attach to a variety of oral bacterial surfaces and to colonize in subgingival dental plaque. We have shown that Streptococcus cristatus CC5A inhibits expression of fimA, a gene encoding the major protein subunit of long fimbriae in P. gingivalis; and as a result, S. cristatus interrupts formation of P. gingivalis biofilms. Here we further demonstrate that the inhibitory activity of S. cristatus affects multiple strains of P. gingivalis, and that the optimal inhibitory activity correlates with levels of arginine deiminase expression in S. cristatus. More strikingly, the impact of S. cristatus on P. gingivalis colonization was revealed by comparing levels of P. gingivalis and S. cristatus in subgingival dental plaque. Spearman correlation analysis indicated a negative correlation between the distributions of S. cristatus and P. gingivalis (r = -0.57 and p < 0.05). These data suggest that some early colonizers of dental plaque such as S. cristatus may be beneficial to the host by antagonizing the colonization and accumulation of periodontal pathogens such as P. gingivalis.