Project description:Protein secretion into extracellular space is an important virulence mechanism both among Gram negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Prevotella intermedia, an important species associated with periodontitis, is known to be resistant to several antibiotics. Since P. intermedia is a part of normal oral microbiota, its complete elimination is not possible. Despite the remarkable clinical significance P. intermedia has, little is known about the molecular basis for its virulence. The aim of this study was to characterize the secretome of P. intermedia in biofilm and planktonic life mode. Proteins in the secretome preparations were identified by nanoLC-ESI-MS/MS. The biofilm secretome showed 109 proteins while the planktonic secretome showed 136 proteins. The biofilm and the planktonic secretomes contained 17 and 33 signal-peptide bearing proteins, 13 and 18 lipoproteins, respectively. Proteins with predicted virulence potential were 39 in biofilm and 44 in planktonic secretomes, respectively. Gene ontology analysis revealed that the biofilm secretome displayed a markedly higher percent proteins compared to planktonic secretome in terms of cellular amino acid metabolic process, nitrogen compound metabolic process, protein binding and methyltransferase and kinase activities. In conclusion, this study revealed differences in the protein profiles of P. intermedia biofilm and planktonic secretomes. This may set a basis for asking further questions into molecular mechanisms how this species exerts its virulence potential in the oral cavity.
