Dental News - Researchers sequence rare bacterium that causes rampant dental caries

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 16. August 2018

save

URBANA, Ill., U.S.: Among the most prevalent chronic diseases in both children and adults is dental caries, which occurs when the mouth is in a state of dysbiosis. Up until now, little was known about the bacterium Streptococcus sobrinus, which accelerates caries in some people. However, a research team from the Department of Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has now successfully sequenced the complete genomes of three strains of S. sobrinus.

Since S. sobrinus is difficult to work with in the laboratory and it is not present in all people, researchers have instead focused their efforts on understanding the more stable and prevalent Streptococcus mutans, which was sequenced in 2002, according to research assistant professor Dr. Paul Jensen from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the university.

“Although it is rare, S. sobrinus produces acid more quickly and is associated with the poorest clinical outcomes, especially among children,” said Jensen. “If S. sobrinus is present along with S. mutans, you’re at risk for rampant tooth decay, which means there’s some level of communication or synergy between the two that we don’t understand yet.”

Now that the S. sobrinus sequencing is complete, the research team is building computational models to better understand how the two bacteria interact and why S. sobrinus can cause such potent caries in combination with S. mutans. They have already confirmed that S. sobrinus lacks complete pathways for quorum sensing, which is the ability of bacteria to sense and react to nearby bacteria, and ultimately proliferate. “S. sobrinus doesn’t have a complete system to do this,” said Jensen. “We’re really curious to explore this further and find out what is missing and why.”

According to Jensen, S. mutans bacteria send out feelers in the form of a peptide to find out how many other S. mutans cells are nearby. Once the S. mutans cells reach a certain threshold, they attack, creating an imbalance in the oral microbiome and leading to rapid cavity formation.

“For the S. sobrinus field, this is groundbreaking work because the field was plagued by a lack of information. In 2018, it is surprising that we had a whole species [of bacteria] that causes disease and no complete genome of it,” concluded Jensen.

This work was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and the Illinois Master of Engineering in Bioengineering program.

The study, titled “Complete genome sequences of Streptococcus sobrinus SL1 (ATCC 33478 = DSM 20742), NIDR 6715-7 (ATCC 27351), NIDR 6715-15 (ATCC 27352), and NCTC 10919 (ATCC 33402),” was published online in Microbiology Resource Announcements on July 26, 2018.

Tags:

To post a reply please login or register

Study finds that dental caries are not genetic

MELBOURNE, Australia: In the first large-scale study to look at the oral microbiome, researchers from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) have ...

Dentists across Scotland are testing AI program that can identify dental caries

GLASGOW, UK: A pioneering study is being carried out across both National Health Service (NHS) and non-NHS dental practices in Scotland in which software ...

Lithuanian researchers develop dental equipment that destroys viruses

KAUNAS, Lithuania: The work of dental professionals was significantly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. For this reason, researchers from Lithuania have ...

Researchers develop material that could emulate dental enamel

LONDON, UK: Unlike many other tissues in the human body, dental enamel does not regenerate itself once it is damaged. In what could potentially be a ...

Researchers developing antibacterial smart dental implant that uses phototherapy

PHILADELPHIA, U.S.: In order to address implant failure and the associated effort and costs, researchers from the School of Dental Medicine of the ...

Researchers develop at-home test that can diagnose gingivitis

CINCINNATI, US: The prevalence of gingivitis continues to be a significant public health concern, and barriers such as limited access to healthcare and high...

Researchers develop new means to treat incipient dental caries

WASHINGTON, U.S.: Prevention is always the best place to start when talking about dental care; however, many patients would be thrilled to have access to an...

Japanese researchers explore whether workplace dental check-ups reduce absenteeism for dental care

TOKYO, Japan: Oral disease contributes significantly to absenteeism globally, constituting between 9.06% and 26.7% of total illness-related absenteeism. The...

Researchers discover new material that could make dental fillings more durable

PORTLAND, Ore., U.S.: A recent study has found that a compound used to make car bumpers more robust and protect wood decks could make dental fillings last ...

Researchers conduct genome analysis for link between dental caries and periodontitis

UMEÅ, Sweden: In the largest study of its kind, researchers from the Institute of Odontology at Umeå University in Sweden and the Bristol Dental School in...

Education

Live webinar
Wed. 24 April 2024
8:00 am EST (New York)