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Journal of Bacteriology, December 2000, p. 7067-7069, Vol. 182, No. 24
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Intergeneric Communication in Dental Plaque Biofilms

Hua Xie,1,* Guy S. Cook,2 J. William Costerton,3 Greg Bruce,4 Timothy M. Rose,4 and Richard J. Lamont5

School of Dentistry, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee1; Bacterin Inc.,2 and Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University,3 Bozeman, Montana; and Department of Pathobiology4 and Department of Oral Biology,5 University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

Received 27 June 2000/Accepted 21 September 2000

Dental plaque is a complex biofilm that accretes in a series of discrete steps proceeding from a gram-positive streptococcus-rich biofilm to a structure rich in gram-negative anaerobes. This study investigated information flow between two unrelated plaque bacteria, Streptococcus cristatus and Porphyromonas gingivalis. A surface protein of S. cristatus caused repression of the P. gingivalis fimbrial gene (fimA), as determined by a chromosomal fimA promoter-lacZ reporter construct and by reverse transcription-PCR. Signaling activity was associated with a 59-kDa surface protein of S. cristatus and showed specificity for the fimA gene. Furthermore, P. gingivalis was unable to form biofilm microcolonies with S. cristatus. Thus, S. cristatus is capable of modulating virulence gene expression in P. gingivalis, consequently influencing the development of pathogenic plaque.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: School of Dentistry, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208. Phone: (615) 327-5981. Fax: (615) 327-5959. E-mail: hxie{at}mail.mmc.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2000, p. 7067-7069, Vol. 182, No. 24
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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