Let there be bioluminescence: development of a biophotonic imaging platform for in situ analyses of oral biofilms in animal models.

ABSTRACT: In the current study, we describe a novel biophotonic imaging-based reporter system that is particularly useful for the study of virulence in polymicrobial infections and interspecies interactions within animal models. A suite of luciferase enzymes was compared using three early colonizing species of the human oral flora (Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus gordonii and Streptococcus sanguinis) to determine the utility of the different reporters for multiplexed imaging studies in vivo. Using the multiplex approach, we were able to track individual species within a dual-species oral infection model in mice with both temporal and spatial resolution. We also demonstrate how biophotonic imaging of multiplexed luciferase reporters could be adapted for real-time quantification of bacterial gene

SUBMITTER: Merritt J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5050008 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature