<i>Fusobacterium nucleatum</i>: strategies for adapting to aerobic stress.

ABSTRACT: Fusobacterium nucleatum-a gram-negative anaerobe-is commensal to the oral cavity, where it plays an important role in the maturation of the oral biofilm. The bacterium is also an opportunistic pathogen, given its association with systemic infections and cancer progression. Although residing in largely anoxic microenvironments within the oral biofilm, F. nucleatum encounters oxygen (O₂) present in the circulating saliva and reactive oxygen species formed endogenously, by an activated immune system or neighboring oral commensal streptococci. This review explores the bacterium's adaptive mechanisms that enable survival under oxidative stress. We discuss how F. nucleatum mitigates oxidative damage and aerobic stress through common detoxifying and repair enzymes such as per

SUBMITTER: McGregor AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12288474 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature