Characteristics of Clinical Isolates of Streptococcus mutans

Abstract

Dental caries is an infectious disease which remains a significant health problem all over the world. The purpose of the study was to characterise a collection of 60 clinical isolates of S. mutans from adults’ and children’s dental plaque (natural biofilm). The paper describes the process of isolation, identification, analysis of biofilm formation and collection testing for the presence of 13 two-component systems (TCS) identified earlier in reference strain ATCC 700610 (UA159). In the case of S. mutans strains, plaque formation is specifically influenced by binary systems. All isolated strains of S. mutans form biofilm at high levels and possess a set of 26 genes forming TSC binary systems, which have an important role in plaque formation.