Cross-feeding and interkingdom communication in dual-species biofilms of Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans.

ABSTRACT: Polymicrobial biofilms are of large medical importance, but relatively little is known about the role of interspecies interactions for their physiology and virulence. Here, we studied two human pathogens co-occuring in the oral cavity, the opportunistic fungus Candida albicans and the caries-promoting bacterium Streptococcus mutans. Dual-species biofilms reached higher biomass and cell numbers than mono-species biofilms, and the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) by S. mutans was strongly suppressed, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and transcriptome analysis. To detect interkingdom communication, C. albicans was co-cultivated with a strain of S. mutans carrying a transcriptional fusion between a green fluorescen

SUBMITTER: Sztajer H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4992082 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature