Effect of Veillonella parvula on the physiological activity of Streptococcus mutans

Shiyu Liu; Mengxue Chen; Yuxia Wang; Xuedong Zhou; Xian Peng; Biao Ren; Mingyun Li; Lei Cheng

doi:10.1016/j.archoralbio.2019.104578

Effect of Veillonella parvula on the physiological activity of Streptococcus mutans

Arch Oral Biol. 2020 Jan:109:104578. doi: 10.1016/j.archoralbio.2019.104578. Epub 2019 Sep 26.

Authors

Shiyu Liu¹, Mengxue Chen², Yuxia Wang³, Xuedong Zhou¹, Xian Peng⁴, Biao Ren⁴, Mingyun Li⁵, Lei Cheng⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Department of Cariology and Endodontics, West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
² Healthy Food Evaluation Research Center, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Department of Cariology and Endodontics, West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Department of Cariology and Endodontics, Hospital of Stomatology, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300041, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Department of Cariology and Endodontics, West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 31589997
DOI: 10.1016/j.archoralbio.2019.104578

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to observe the effect of V. parvula on the physiological activity of S. mutans and elucidate the role of V. parvula on dental caries.

Design: We constructed dual-species biofilms formed by V. parvula and S. mutans, and measured the pH dynamics, biofilm growth, Extracellular Polysaccharide (EPS) synthesis, and expression of S. mutans EPS synthesis-associated genes affected by V. parvula.

Results: pH dynamics were not altered when V. parvula and S. mutans were co-cultured during a 120 -h test period. However, S. mutans cell number and EPS synthesis in dual-species biofilms were found to be significantly higher than in single-species biofilms. Moreover, expression levels of genes encoding glucosyltransferases (gtfs), gtfB and gtfC specifically, were up-regulated when S. mutans was co-cultured with V. parvula.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that V. parvula is not, as previously thought, protective and associated with caries health. On the contrary, V. parvula might participate in caries development through interactions with S. mutans. This study suggests that V. parvula may have an impact on the pathogenesis of dental caries.

Keywords: Dental caries; Dual-species biofilms; Streptococcoccus mutans; Veillonella parvula.

MeSH terms

Bacterial Proteins / genetics
Biofilms*
Coculture Techniques
Dental Caries / microbiology
Extracellular Polymeric Substance Matrix
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
Glucosyltransferases / genetics
Streptococcus mutans / physiology*
Veillonella / physiology*

Substances

Bacterial Proteins
Glucosyltransferases