Dental Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Dental, including details on implants, health, hygiene, cosmetic, dentistry.

First isolation of Streptococcus downei from human dental plaques.

Yoo SY, Kim KJ, Lim SH, Kim KW, Hwang HK, Min BM, Choe SJ, Kook JK

Department of Oral Biochemistry, College of Dentistry, Chosun University, 375 Seo-Suk Dong, Dong-Ku, Gwang-ju 501-759, Republic of Korea.

In this study, we isolated four bacterial strains grown on mitis-salivarius sucrose bacitracin agar. The strains had similar biochemical characteristics to biotypes I or II of mutans streptococci. The four isolates were identified as Streptococcus downei by 16S rDNA and dextranase gene (dex) sequencing as well as polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) targeting dex. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the isolation and identification of S. downei from dental plaque in humans. The results suggest that S. downei can inhabit the human oral cavity.

Published 9 August 2005 in FEMS Microbiol Lett, 249(2): 323-6.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Dental Research Today. All Rights Reserved.