Automutanolysin disrupts clinical isolates of cariogenic streptococci in biofilms and planktonic cells

Metabolic profiles of planktonic and biofilm cells of Candida orthopsilosis

AIM

This study aims to understand which Candida orthopsilosis protein aids fungus adaptation upon its switching from planktonic growth to biofilm.

MATERIALS & METHODS

Ion mobility separation within mass spectrometry analysis combination were used.

RESULTS

Proteins mapped for different biosynthetic pathways showed that selective ribosome autophagy might occur in biofilms. Glucose, used as a carbon source in the glycolytic flux, changed to glycogen and trehalose.

CONCLUSION

Candida orthopsilosis expresses proteins that combine a variety of mechanisms to provide yeasts with the means to adjust the catalytic properties of enzymes. Adjustment of the enzymes helps modulate the biosynthesis/degradation rates of the available nutrients, in order to control and coordinate the metabolic pathways that enable cells to express an adequate response to nutrient availability.

Saliva microbiota carry caries-specific functional gene signatures

Human saliva microbiota is phylogenetically divergent among host individuals yet their roles in health and disease are poorly appreciated. We employed a microbial functional gene microarray, HuMiChip 1.0, to reconstruct the global functional profiles of human saliva microbiota from ten healthy and ten caries-active adults. Saliva microbiota in the pilot population featured a vast diversity of functional genes. No significant distinction in gene number or diversity indices was observed between healthy and caries-active microbiota. However, co-presence network analysis of functional genes revealed that caries-active microbiota was more divergent in non-core genes than healthy microbiota, despite both groups exhibited a similar degree of conservation at their respective core genes. Furthermore, functional gene structure of saliva microbiota could potentially distinguish caries-active patients from healthy hosts. Microbial functions such as Diaminopimelate epimerase, Prephenate dehydrogenase, Pyruvate-formate lyase and N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase were significantly linked to caries. Therefore, saliva microbiota carried disease-associated functional signatures, which could be potentially exploited for caries diagnosis.