Abstract
Most bacteria in nature exist in multispecies communities known as biofilms. In the natural habitat where resources (nutrient, space, etc.) are usually limited, individual species must compete or collaborate with other neighboring species in order to perpetuate in the multispecies community. The human oral cavity is colonized by >700 microbial species known as the indigenous microbiota. This indigenous flora normally maintains an ecological balance through antagonistic as well as mutualistic interspecies interactions. However, environmental perturbation may disrupt this balance, leading to overgrowth of pathogenic species which could in turn initiate diseases such as dental caries (tooth decay) and periodontitis (gum disease). Understanding the mechanisms of diversity maintenance may help develo** novel approaches to manage these “polymicrobial diseases”. In this chapter, we will focus on a well-characterized form of biochemical warfare: bacteriocins produced by Streptococcus mutans, a primary dental caries pathogen, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) produced by several oral commensal streptococci. We will describe detailed methodologies on the competition assay, isolation, purification, and characterization of bacteriocins.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Klaenhammer TR (1988) Bacteriocins of lactic acid bacteria. Biochimie 70:337–349
Riley MA, Wertz JE (2002) Bacteriocin diversity: ecological and evolutionary perspectives. Biochimie 84:357–364
Riley MA, Wertz JE (2002) Bacteriocins: evolution, ecology, and application. Ann Rev Microbiol 56:117–137
Sahl HG, Bierbaum G (1998) Lantibiotics: biosynthesis and biological activities of uniquely modified peptides from gram-positive bacteria. Ann Rev Microbiol 52:41–79
Aas JA, Paster BJ, Stokes LN, Olsen I, Dewhirst FE (2005) Defining the normal bacterial flora of the oral cavity. J Clin Microbiol 43:5721–5732
Paster BJ, Boches SK, Galvin JL, Ericson RE, Lau CN, Levanos VA, Sahasrabudhe A, Dewhirst FE (2001) Bacterial diversity in human subgingival plaque. J Bacteriol 183:3770–3783
Paster BJ, Olsen I, Aas JA, Dewhirst FE (2006) The breadth of bacterial diversity in the human periodontal pocket and other oral sites. Periodontol 2000 42:80–87
Socransky SS, Haffajee AD, Cugini MA, Smith C, Kent RL Jr (1998) Microbial complexes in subgingival plaque. J Clin Periodontol 25:134–144
Hamilton IA (2000) Ecological basis for dental caries. In: Kuramitsu HK, Ellen RP (eds) Oral bacterial ecology. Horizon Scientific Press, Wymondham, Norfolk, pp 215–275
Rosan B, Lamont RJ (2000) Dental plaque formation. Microbes Infect 2:1599–1607
Kreth J, Merritt J, Qi F (2009) Bacterial and host interactions of oral streptococci. DNA Cell Biol 28:397–403
Loesche WJ (1986) The identification of bacteria associated with periodontal disease and dental caries by enzymatic methods. Oral Microbiol Immunol 1:65–72
Merritt J, Qi F (2012) The mutacins of Streptococcus mutans: regulation and ecology. Mol Oral Microbiol 27:57–69
Becker MR, Paster BJ, Leys EJ, Moeschberger ML, Kenyon SG, Galvin JL, Boches SK, Dewhirst FE, Griffen AL (2002) Molecular analysis of bacterial species associated with childhood caries. J Clin Microbiol 40:1001–1009
Caufield PW, Dasanayake AP, Li Y, Pan Y, Hsu J, Hardin JM (2000) Natural history of streptococcus sanguinis in the oral cavity of infants: evidence for a discrete window of infectivity. Infect Immun 68:4018–4023
Kreth J, Merritt J, Shi W, Qi F (2005) Competition and coexistence between Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguinis in the dental biofilm. J Bacteriol 187:7193–7203
Qi F, Chen P, Caufield PW (2001) The group I strain of Streptococcus mutans, UA140, produces both the lantibiotic mutacin I and a nonlantibiotic bacteriocin, mutacin IV. Appl Environ Microbiol 67:15–21
Zhu L, Kreth J (2012) The role of hydrogen peroxide in environmental adaptation of oral microbial communities. Oxidat Med Cell Longev 2012:717843
Scoffield JA, Wu H (2015) Oral streptococci and nitrite-mediated interference of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Infect Immun 83:101–107
Giacaman RA, Torres S, Gomez Y, Munoz-Sandoval C, Kreth J (2015) Correlation of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguinis colonization and ex vivo hydrogen peroxide production in carious lesion-free and high caries adults. Arch Oral Biol 60:154–159
Qi F, Chen P, Caufield PW (2000) Purification and biochemical characterization of mutacin I from the group I strain of Streptococcus mutans, CH43, and genetic analysis of mutacin I biosynthesis genes. Appl Environ Microbiol 66:3221–3229
Qi F, Chen P, Caufield PW (1999) Purification of mutacin III from group III Streptococcus mutans UA787 and genetic analyses of mutacin III biosynthesis genes. Appl Environ Microbiol 65:3880–3887
Podbielski A, Spellerberg B, Woischnik M, Pohl B, Lutticken R (1996) Novel series of plasmid vectors for gene inactivation and expression analysis in group A streptococci (GAS). Gene 177:137–147
Merritt J, Tsang P, Zheng L, Shi W, Qi F (2007) Construction of a counterselection-based in-frame deletion system for genetic studies of Streptococcus mutans. Oral Microbiol Immunol 22:95–102
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Qi, F., Kreth, J. (2023). Methods to Study Antagonistic Activities Among Oral Bacteria. In: Seymour, G.J., Cullinan, M.P., Heng, N.C., Cooper, P.R. (eds) Oral Biology. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2588. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2780-8_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2780-8_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-2779-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-2780-8
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols