Departmental Papers (Dental)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
6-2005
Publication Source
Oral Microbiology and Immunology
Volume
20
Issue
3
Start Page
131
Last Page
140
DOI
10.1111/j.1399-302X.2004.00190.x
Abstract
The surface of the oral plaque bacterium Streptococcus cristatus is decorated with a lateral tuft of fibrils. The fibrillar tuft functions in the adhesion of S. cristatus to heterologous bacterial species in the plaque biofilm. The tuft typically consists of a densely packed fringe of shorter fibrils 238 ± 19 nm long with longer, less abundant fibrils 403 ± 66 nm long projecting through the fringe of short fibrils. The two types of fibrils in the tufts of S. cristatus have been refractory to biochemical separation, complicating their characterization. A hexadecane partition assay was used to enrich for subpopulations of S. cristatus CR311 (type strain NCTC 12479) having distinct fibrillar morphotypes. Negative staining in the TEM revealed that cells of a hydrophobic subpopulation of S. cristatus (CR311var1) carried only the long fibrils (395 ± 32 nm). A hydrophilic subpopulation of S. cristatus (CR311var3) consisted of mixed morphotypes having no fibrils or remnant short fibrils (223 ± 49 nm). No long fibrils were observed on any cells in the CR311var3 subpopulation. The CR311var3 morphotype, unlike the wild-type strain and CR311var1, was not able to form corncobs with either Corynebacterium matruchotii or Fusobacterium nucleatum. Variant CR311var3 did not express the novel gene srpA, which encodes a high molecular weight (321,882 Da) serine-rich protein, SrpA. The SrpA protein contains two extensive repeat motifs of 17 and 71 amino acids and a gram-positive cell wall anchor consensus sequence (LPNTG). The unusual properties of SrpA most closely resemble those of Fap1, the fimbrial-associated adhesin protein of Streptococcus parasanguis. The association of long fibrils, high surface hydrophobicity, ability to form corncob formations, and expression of the srpA gene suggest that SrpA is a long fibril protein in S. cristatus.
Copyright/Permission Statement
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Handley, P.S., Correia, F.F., Russell, K., Rosan, B., DiRienzo, J.M. (2005 ). Association of a novel high molecular weight, serine-rich protein (SrpA) with fibril-mediated adhesion of the oral biofilm bacterium Streptococcus cristatus. Molecular Oral Microbiology;20(3):131-40.]. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Keywords
corncobs, fibrils, SrpA, Streptococcus cristatus, tufts
Recommended Citation
Handley, P. S., Correia, F. F., Russell, K., Rosan, B., & DiRienzo, J. M. (2005). Association of a Novel High Molecular Weight, Serine-Rich Protein (SrpA) with Fibril-Mediated Adhesion of the Oral Biofilm Bacterium Streptococcus Cristatus. Oral Microbiology and Immunology, 20 (3), 131-140. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-302X.2004.00190.x
Date Posted: 01 March 2022
This document has been peer reviewed.