Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Streptococcus mutans

 
Dental Dictionary: Streptococcus mutans
Home > Library > Health > Dental Dictionary

n

Cariogenic bacteria found in dental plaque and one of two the index organisms (Lactobacillus is the other) used to assess caries susceptibility.

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Medical Dictionary: Streptococcus mu·tans
Top
Home > Library > Health > Medical Dictionary
(myū'tănz')
n.

A species of Streptococcus associated with the production of dental caries.

Wikipedia: Streptococcus mutans
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Streptococcus mutans
stain of S. mutans in thioglycollate broth culture.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Bacteria
Phylum: Firmicutes
Class: Cocci
Order: Lactobacillales
Family: Streptococcaceae
Genus: Streptococcus
Species: mutans
Binomial name
Streptococcus mutans
Clarke 1924

Streptococcus mutans is a Gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic bacterium commonly found in the human oral cavity and is a significant contributor to tooth decay.[1][2] The microbe was first described by Clarke in 1924.[3]

Contents

Role in tooth decay

Early colonizers of the tooth surface are mainly Neisseria spp. and streptococci, including S. mutans. The growth and metabolism of these pioneer species changes local environmental conditions (e.g. Eh, pH, coaggregation, substrate availability), thereby enabling more fastidious organisms to further colonize after them, forming dental plaque.[4] Along with S. sobrinus, S. mutans plays a major role in tooth decay, metabolizing sucrose to lactic acid.[2] The acidic environment created in the mouth by this process is what causes the highly mineralized tooth enamel to be vulnerable to decay. S. mutans is one of a few specialized organisms equipped with receptors that help for better adhesion to the surface of teeth. Sucrose is utilized by S. mutans to produce a sticky, extracellular, dextran-based polysaccharide that allows them to cohere to each other forming plaque. S. mutans produces dextran via the enzyme dextransucrase (a hexosyltransferase) using sucrose as a substrate in the following reaction:

n sucrose → (glucose)n + n fructose

Sucrose is the only sugar that S. mutans can use to form this sticky polysaccharide.[1]

Conversely, many other sugars—glucose, fructose, lactose—can be digested by S. mutans, but they produce lactic acid as an end product. It is the combination of plaque and acid that leads to dental decay.[5] Due to the role the S. mutans plays in tooth decay, there have been many attempts to make a vaccine for the organism. So far, such vaccines have not been successful in humans.[6] Recently, proteins involved in the colonization of teeth by S. mutans have been shown to produce antibodies that inhibit the cariogenic process.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Ryan KJ, Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-8385-8529-9. 
  2. ^ a b Loesche WJ (1996). Microbiology of Dental Decay and Periodontal Disease. In: Baron's Medical Microbiology (Baron S et al., eds.) (4th ed.). Univ of Texas Medical Branch. ISBN 0-9631172-1-1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=mmed.chapter.5326. 
  3. ^ Clarke, JK (1924). "On the bacterial factor in the etiology of dental caries". Brit J Exp Pathol 5: 141–7. 
  4. ^ Vinogradov AM, Winston M, Rupp CJ, Stoodley P (2004). "Rheology of biofilms formed from the dental plaque pathogen Streptococcus mutans". Biofilms 1: 49–56. doi:10.1017/S1479050503001078. 
  5. ^ Madigan M, Martinko J (editors). (2005). Brock Biology of Microorganisms (11th ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-144329-1. 
  6. ^ Klein, J.P.; Scholler, M. (December 1998). "Recent Advances in the Development of a Streptococcus mutans Vaccine". European Journal of Epidemiology 4 (4): 419–425. doi:10.1007/BF00146392. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0393-2990%28198812%294%3A4%3C419%3ARAITDO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A. Retrieved 2007-05-15. 
  7. ^ Hajishengallis G, Russell MW (2008). "Molecular Approaches to Vaccination against Oral Infections". Molecular Oral Microbiology. Caister Academic Press. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/978-1-904455-24-0]|978-1-904455-24-0]]]. http://www.horizonpress.com/oral2. 

External links

Stub icon This bacteria-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Medical Dictionary. The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Streptococcus mutans".  Read more