Relationship of adhesion in vitro and cariogenicity of oral Streptococcus species in germ-free rats.
Thirty-two strains of Streptococcus spp., of known cariogenicity in the gnotobiotic WAG/RIJ rat, were tested for their in vitro adhesion properties. Computerized image analysis measured percentage coverage by, and clump size of, cells adhering to saliva-coated glass. An analysis of variance revealed significant differences for percentage coverage for the majority of species-pairs. There were fewer significant differences for mean clump size between species-pairs. Within the Strep. mutans group there was a highly-significant difference between Strep. mutans/Strep. cricetus (p less than 0.01) with respect to mean clump size. There was a significant correlation between cariogenicity and percentage coverage (p = 0.05) but not clump size (p = 0.359) for pooled strains of Strep. mitis and Strep. sanguis combined.
D000268:Adhesiveness; D000818:Animals; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000382:microbiology*; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*