title: Starvation response and growth in serum of Fusobacterium nucleatum, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Prevotella intermedia, and Pseudoramibacter alactolyticus.
abstract: The microbiota inhabiting the untreated root canal differ markedly from those found in post-treatment disease, yet there is limited information on the microbial characteristics distinguishing the different infections. We hypothesized that starvation survival is a key microbial property in species selection. This study analyzed starvation-survival behavior over 60 days of species representative of the untreated root canal infection: Fusobacterium nucleatum, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Prevotella intermedia and Pseudoramibacter alactolyticus. All species did not survive 1 day in water. In 1% serum, the 4 species could not survive beyond 2-3 weeks. They required a high initial cell density and >or=10% serum to survive the observation period. The results highlight a poor starvation-survival capacity of these 4 species compared with species prevalent in post-treatment infection, which are well equipped to endure starvation and survive in low numbers on minimal serum. These findings point to starvation-survival capacity as a selection factor for microbial participation in post-treatment disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Odontology/Endodontics, Faculty of Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. malin.brundin@odont.umu.se
authors.forename: Malin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brundin
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Figdor
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sundqvist
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sjögren
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D016866:Bacteroidaceae Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003470:Culture Media; D003786:Dental Pulp Cavity / Q000382:microbiology*; D003788:Dental Pulp Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D005051:Eubacterium / Q000254:growth & development*; D005674:Fusobacterium Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D016967:Fusobacterium nucleatum / Q000254:growth & development*; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D010462:Peptostreptococcus / Q000254:growth & development*; D018713:Prevotella intermedia / Q000254:growth & development*; D044967:Serum; D013997:Time Factors; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D014867:Water