title: Distributions of Synergistetes in clinically-healthy and diseased periodontal and peri-implant niches.
abstract: Bacterial taxa belonging to the phylum Synergistetes are commonly detected within diseased periodontal niches, but are rarely found within healthy oral sites. However, as they typically constitute a minor fraction of the oral microbiota, their precise distributions and disease-associations remain to be fully established. Here, we surveyed the Synergistetes taxa present within individual periodontal/subgingival and peri-implant/submucosal sites, within Chinese subjects (n = 18) affected by both peri-implantitis and periodontitis. Four individual, clinically-distinct sites were analyzed in each patient: healthy sulcus; periodontitis lesion; healthy peri-implant space; peri-implantitis lesion. We employed a clone library-based approach, using PCR-primers that specifically amplified ca. 650bp regions of the 16S rRNA gene from oral cluster A and B Synergistetes taxa. Twenty-one of the 72 sites (from 12/18 subjects) yielded Synergistetes 16S rRNA PCR products. Sequencing of cloned amplicon libraries yielded 1338 quality-filtered 16S rRNA sequences, which were assigned to 26 Synergistetes operational taxonomic units (OTUs; oral taxon SH01-SH26) using a 98.5% identity cut-off. We identified 25 Synergistetes oral cluster A OTUs (genus Fretibacterium; corresponding to Human Oral Taxon (HOT) numbers 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 452, and 453), and one oral cluster B OTU (Pyramidobacter piscolens oral taxon SH04, HOT-357). Three OTUs predominated: Fretibacterium oral taxon SH01 (HOT-360), Fretibacterium oral taxon SH02 (HOT-452), and Fretibacterium fastidiosum oral taxon SH03 (HOT-363). The Synergistetes community compositions within the respective periodontal and peri-implant sites were variable and complex, and no statistically-significant correlations could be established. However, the detection frequency of F. fastidiosum SH03 and Fretibacterium oral taxon SH01 were both positively associated with plaque index at healthy subgingival sites. Taken together, our results show that diverse Synergistetes populations inhabit both diseased and healthy periodontal and peri-implant niches, with considerable site-to-site variations in composition occurring within the same oral cavity.
authors.affiliation: Oral Biosciences, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Lin
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Oral Biosciences, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Long-Fei
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Implantology, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Chang
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, China; Universities of Bern and Zurich, Schools of Dental Medicine, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Niklaus P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Oral Diagnosis and Polyclinics, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Donnabella C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Lacap-Bugler
authors.affiliation: Oral Diagnosis and Polyclinics, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, China. Electronic address: ewkleung@hkucc.hku.hk.
authors.forename: W Keung
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Oral Biosciences, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, China. Electronic address: rmwatt@hku.hk.
authors.forename: Rory M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Watt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018441:Biofilms; D002681:China; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006089:Gram-Negative Anaerobic Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064307:Microbiota; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology*; D057873:Peri-Implantitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D010519:Periodontium / Q000382:microbiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: Dental implant; Dental plaque biofilm; Dentistry; Microbial ecology; Periodontitis etiology; Phylogeny