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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jay Sangha, Professor Thomas CurtisORCiD, Professor Nicholas JakubovicsORCiD, Dr Dana OfiteruORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The oral microbiome plays an important role in protecting oral health. Here, we established a controlled mixed-species in vitro biofilm model and used it to assess the impact of glucose and lactate on the ability of Streptococcus mutans, an acidogenic and aciduric species, to compete with commensal oral bacteria. A chemically defined medium was developed that supported the growth of S. mutans and four common early colonizers of dental plaque: Streptococcus gordonii, Actinomyces oris, Neisseria subflava, and Veillonella parvula. Biofilms containing the early colonizers were developed in a continuous flow bioreactor, exposed to S. mutans, and incubated for up to 7 days. The abundance of bacteria was estimated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). At high glucose and high lactate, the pH in bulk fluid rapidly decreased to approximately 5.2, and S. mutans outgrew other species in biofilms. In low glucose and high lactate, the pH remained above 5.5, and V. parvula was the most abundant species in biofilms. By contrast, in low glucose and low lactate, the pH remained above 6.0 throughout the experiment, and the microbial community in biofilms was relatively balanced. Fluorescence in situ hybridization confirmed that all species were present in the biofilm and the majority of cells were viable using live/dead staining. These data demonstrate that carbon source concentration is critical for microbial homeostasis in model oral biofilms. Furthermore, we established an experimental system that can support the development of computational models to predict transitions to microbial dysbiosis based on metabolic interactions. 38376204
Author(s): Sangha JS, Barrett P, Curtis TP, Métris A, Jakubovics NS, Ofiteru ID
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Microbiology Spectrum
Year: 2024
Volume: 12
Issue: 4
Pages: e03713-23
Print publication date: 02/04/2024
Online publication date: 20/02/2024
Acceptance date: 16/01/2024
Date deposited: 01/05/2024
ISSN (electronic): 2165-0497
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
URL: https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.03713-23
DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03713-23
Data Access Statement: Data created during this research are available at Newcastle University Research Data Archive at https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.c.6882805
PubMed id: 38376204
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