Growth of oral Streptococcus species and Actinomyces viscosus in human saliva

Abstract

Microorganisms in dental plaque live in constant association with saliva. The role of saliva in the adherence of bacteria to the teeth and the antibacterial properties of saliva have been well investigated; less interest has been shown in the possible role of saliva as a substrate for oral microorganisms. In this study it was shown that saliva can serve as a growth medium for oral Streptococcus spp. and Actionomyces viscosus. The cell production of these organisms on saliva was carbohydrate limited. The doubling times for growth on glucose-supplemented saliva (4 to 5 mmol/liter) ranged from 1.6 to 4.0 h. The availability of carbohydrate sources for the oral microflora is discussed in relation to microbial growth in the oral cavity.

Competition between oral species in the chemostat under alternating conditions of glucose limitation and excess

“…The main substrate sources for the microorganisms in supragingival dental plaque are saliva and the host's diet. Evidence from various types of experiments indicates that between meals the streptococci in the dental plaque experi-ence carbohydrate limitation, interrupted by periods of substrate excess due to food intake by the host [4,5]. In the present study we have chosen glucose-limited and glucose-pulsed chemostats as models to study the competition between streptococci from dental plaque.…”

“…In retrospect, it seems likely that S. sanguis was more successful in the competition for salivary carbohydrate. It has been shown that in saliva, carbohydrate is limiting to the growth of oral streptococci [5].…”

“…Several data suggest that carbon and energy sources limit the growth of the oral streptococci in the natural environment [4,5], Furthermore, it is likely that carbon and energy limitation is released 0168-6496/85/$03.30 © 1985 Federation of European Microbiological Societies following the intake of food by the host. Therefore, competition studies under alternating conditions of glucose limitation and excess are of interest.…”

Analysis of saliva for periodontal diagnosis

“…It has been suggested that microorganisms in dental plaque can survive in saliva, and can utilize salivary components as a substrate. It was shown that saliva could serve as a growth medium for oral Streptococus species and A. viscous (De Jong et al 1984). Bowden (1997) suggested that the number of bacterial cells for a given species in unstimulated saliva may indicate whether that microorganism is actively growing in plaque.…”

Mucin can enhance growth, biofilm formation, and survival ofStreptococcus mutans

“…There are only rare examples of bacteria, such as Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Akkermansia muciniphila, that are capable of using mucin as sole carbon and nitrogen source (Salyers et al, 1977;Derrien et al, 2004;Sonnenburg et al, 2005). In the oral cavity, a consortium of bacteria acts in concert to degrade mucin and release its nutrients (de Jong et al, 1984;van der Hoeven et al, 1990). Streptococcus mutans cannot use mucin as a sole carbon and energy source (van der Hoeven et al, 1990); however, mucin prolonged the survival of S. mutans (Renye et al, 2004).…”