Metabolic Modeling of Streptococcus mutans Reveals Complex Nutrient Requirements of an Oral Pathogen

Abstract

Tooth decay is the most prevalent chronic disease in the United States. Decay is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus mutans , an oral pathogen that ferments sugars into tooth-destroying lactic acid. We constructed a complete metabolic model of S. mutans to systematically investigate how the bacterium grows. The model provides a valuable resource for understanding and targeting S. mutans ’ ability to outcompete other species in the oral microbiome.