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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2001, p. 1343-1350, Vol. 67, No. 3
Institute for Oral Microbiology and General
Immunology, Center for Dental and Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial
Surgery, University of Zürich, CH-8028 Zürich, Switzerland
Received 5 September 2000/Accepted 30 November 2000
The spatial arrangements and associative behavior of
Actinomyces naeslundii, Veillonella dispar, Fusobacterium
nucleatum, Streptococcus sobrinus, and Streptococcus
oralis strains in an in vitro model of supragingival plaque were
determined. Using species-specific fluorescence-labeled antibodies in
conjunction with confocal laser scanning microscopy, the volumes and
distribution of the five strains were assessed during biofilm
formation. The volume-derived cell numbers of each strain correlated
well with respective culture data. Between 15 min and 64 h,
populations of each strain increased in a manner reminiscent of batch
growth. The microcolony morphologies of all members of the consortium and their distributions within the biofilm were characterized, as were
interspecies associations. Biofilms formed 15 min after inoculation
consisted principally of single nonaggregated cells. All five strains
adhered strongly to the saliva-conditioned substratum, and therefore,
coadhesion played no role during the initial phase of biofilm
formation. This observation does not reflect the results of in vitro
coaggregation of the five strains, which depended upon the nature of
the suspension medium. While the possibility cannot be excluded that
some interspecies associations observed at later stages of biofilm
formation were initiated by coadhesion, increase in bacterial numbers
appeared to be largely a growth phenomenon regulated by the prevailing
cultivation conditions.
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.3.1343-1350.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Spatial Arrangements and Associative Behavior of
Species in an In Vitro Oral Biofilm Model
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut
für Orale Mikrobiologie und Allgemeine Immunologie, Zentrum
für Zahn-, Mund- und Kieferheilkunde der Universität
Zürich, Plattenstrasse 11, Postfach, CH-8028 Zürich,
Switzerland. Phone: (41 1) 634 32 78. Fax: (41 1) 634 43 10. E-mail:
bernie{at}zzmk.unizh.ch.
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