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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2000, p. 3330-3336, Vol. 66, No. 8
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Genotypic Heterogeneity of Streptococcus oralis and Distinct Aciduric Subpopulations in Human Dental Plaque

S. Alam,1 S. R. Brailsford,1 S. Adams,2 C. Allison,2 E. Sheehy,1 L. Zoitopoulos,1 E. A. Kidd,1 and D. Beighton1,*

Dental Caries Research Group, Guy's, King's, and St. Thomas' Dental Institute, London SE5 9RW,1 and Unilever Research, Port Sunlight, Wirral L63 3JW,2 England

Received 3 April 2000/Accepted 31 May 2000

The genotypic heterogeneity of Streptococcus oralis isolated from the oral cavity was investigated using repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR. Unrelated subjects harbored unique genotypes, with numerous genotypes being isolated from an individual. S. oralis is the predominant aciduric bacterium isolated from noncarious tooth sites. Genotypic comparison of the aciduric populations isolated at pH 5.2 with those isolated from mitis-salivarius agar (MSA) (pH 7.0) indicated that the aciduric populations were genotypically distinct in the majority of subjects (chi 2 = 13.09; P = 0.0031). Neither the aciduric nor the MSA-isolated strains were stable, with no strains isolated at baseline being isolated 4 or 12 weeks later in the majority of subjects. The basis of this instability is unknown but is similar to that reported for Streptococcus mitis. Examination of S. oralis strains isolated from cohabiting couples demonstrated that in three of five couples, genotypically identical strains were isolated from both partners and this was confirmed by using Salmonella enteritidis repetitive element PCR and enterobacterial PCR typing. These data provide further evidence of the physiological and genotypic heterogeneity of non-mutans streptococci. The demonstration of distinct aciduric populations of S. oralis implies that the role of these and other non-mutans streptococci in the caries process requires reevaluation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Oral Microbiology, Dental Institute GKT, Caldecot Road, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RW, England. Phone: 44-0171-346-3272. Fax: 44-0171-346-3073. E-mail: david.beighton{at}kcl.ac.uk.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2000, p. 3330-3336, Vol. 66, No. 8
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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