PMC

Schematic description of oral biofilms, as described by Kolenbrander et al. (). (A.a.: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, P.a.: Propionibacterium acnes, P.i.: Prevotella intermedia, P.g.: Porphyromonas gingivalis, P.l.: Prevotella loescheii, S.f.: Selenomonas flueggei, T.d.: Treponema denticola, T.f.: Tannerella forsythia).

a Percent of Fusobacterium relative to pocket depth of sampled teeth (r = 0.2413, P = 0.0411). b Percent of Streptococcus relative to Prevotella (r = −0.3846, P = 0.0008). c Percent of Streptococcus relative to single Prevotella species, P. loescheii (r = −0.3055, P = 0.0090). d Rarefaction trends: distribution of number of sequences per sample. Samples were classified as Healthy Controls (red line), gingivitis (blue line), mild/moderate periodontitis (orange line) and severe periodontitis (green line).

The complex and highly organized microbial community on tooth surface. (Adapted after []) The colored lines represent adhesion-cognate receptors responsible for coaggregation. For the bacterial genus, starting from the bottom: S Streptococcus, P Propionibacterium (acnes), C Capnocytophaga, H Hemophilus, P Prevotella (loescheii, denticola, and intermedia), V Veillonella, E Eikenella, A Actinomyces (isralii and naslundii), T Treponema, P Porphyromonas (gingivalis)

(A) Biofilm forming abilities of eight Prevotella species. After growing static biofilm cultures for 3 days, a standard crystal violet staining technique was used for the quantification of the biofilm mass. Optical densities of the crystal violet solutions post-biofilm staining were measured at 590 nm. ^*P < 0.005, Mann Whitney. (B) Confocal microscopy images of the biofilms. P. loescheii, P. nigrescens, and P. oralis biofilms which were cultured on glass chambers and stained with SYTO 9 dye. The images show x-y-z projections for a 3D view.