title: Competitive properties of lactate dehydrogenase mutants of the oral bacterium Streptococcus mutans in the rat.
abstract: Prior establishment of a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)-deficient mutant of Streptococcus mutans in the mouths of rats caused a 10-10,000-fold increase in the minimal infectious dose for persistent colonization by wild-type strains of this organism. The finding that LDH-deficient mutants can render their host relatively resistant to infection by decay-causing strains of Strep. mutans while being much less pathogenic themselves, lends support to their prospective usefulness as effector strains in the replacement therapy of dental caries.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000628:therapy; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000172:deficiency*; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology*; D009154:Mutation; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase