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Sucrose‐derived exopolysaccharides of Streptococcus mutans V403 contribute to infectivity in endocarditis
Author(s) -
Munro Cindy L.,
Macrina Francis L.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1993.tb01210.x
Subject(s) - infectivity , microbiology and biotechnology , streptococcus mutans , biology , mutant , endocarditis , phagocytosis , sucrose , fructan , streptococcus , streptococcaceae , virulence , bacteria , gene , biochemistry , immunology , genetics , medicine , virus , surgery , antibiotics
Summary We used an isogenic mutant of Streptococcus mutans V403, which differs from the wild‐type V403 in genes involved in glucan and fructan production, to examine the importance of these exopolysaccharides as factors affecting infectivity in endocarditis. Rats inoculated with V403 developed endocarditis more frequently than animals inoculated with the mutant strain which produced neither glucan nor fructan (58% versus 12%, P<0.01). In phagocytosis assays, both strains were found to be associated with the human granulocytes but a greater number of live V403 than of mutant organisms could be recovered. Colony counts recovered from fibrin plates incubated with the mutant were lower than those incubated with V403. These experiments indicate that exopolysaccharides produced by Streptococcus mutans contribute to its infectivity in endocarditis.