title: [Bacterial diversity in the oral cavity of adolescents with different caries susceptibilities].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the differences between the bacterial diversities in the saliva of caries-free and caries-susceptible adolescents through polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty adolescent subjects aged 12-18 years were recruited and subdivided into two groups: caries-free adolescents (n = 10) and caries-susceptible adolescents (n = 10). Saliva samples were collected. Total DNA was isolated directly from each sample. A portion of the 16S rRNA gene locus was PCR-amplified by using universal primers. Microbial diversity was analyzed through PCR-DGGE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analyzing the DGGE profile, we found that the composition of the saliva microbiome exhibited great intra-individual differences; the average band numbers of the caries-free adolescent group and the caries-susceptible adolescent group were 32.5 ± 3.7 and 27.3 ± 3.4, respectively. The differences between the groups were statistically significant (P = 0.008). Shannon-Wiener's indexes of the caries-susceptible adolescent group and the caries-free adolescent group were 2.5 ± 0.2 and 2.6 ± 0.2, respectively, but the differences between the groups were not significant (P = 0.405). Clustering analysis results suggested that most of the samples in the same group clustered together; this observation showed a high community structure similarity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The microbial diversity and complexity of bacteria in saliva are significantly higher in caries-free adolescents than in caries-susceptible adolescents. During caries development, bacterial diversity in the saliva likely decreases.
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yangyang
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jinzhi
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xuedong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001419:Bacteria; D002648:Child; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000382:microbiology*; D003733:Dental Caries Susceptibility; D006801:Humans; D064307:Microbiota; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S