Identification of Veillonella Species in the Tongue Biofilm by Using a Novel One-Step Polymerase Chain Reaction Method

PLoS One. 2016 Jun 21;11(6):e0157516. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157516. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Six Veillonella species have been frequently isolated from human oral cavities including infectious sites. Recently, it was reported that diet, smoking, and possibly socioeconomic status can influence the bacterial profile in oral cavities. In addition, oral hygiene habits may also influence oral microbiota in terms of both numbers and diversity of microorganisms. In this study, the identification of Veillonella species in tongue biofilms of Thai children, divided into three groups dependent on their status of oral hygiene. For this, we used a novel one-step PCR method with species-specific primer sets based on sequences of the rpoB gene. As shown in the results, the number of isolates of Veillonella species was 101 strains from only 10 of 89 subjects. However, the total number of bacteria was high for all subjects. Since it was reported in previous studies that Veillonella species were easy to isolate in human tongue biofilms at high numbers, the results obtained in this study may suggest country- or age-specific differences. Moreover, Veillonella species were detected predominantly in subjects who had poor oral hygiene compared to those with good or moderate oral hygiene. From these results, there is a possibility that Veillonella species may be an index of oral hygiene status. Furthermore, V. rogosae was a predominant species in tongue biofilms of Thai children, whereas V. parvula and V. denticariosi were not isolated at all. These characteristics of the distribution and frequency of Veillonella species are similar to those reported in previous studies. Although further studies are needed in other countries, in this study, a successful novel one-step PCR method was established to detect Veillonella species in human oral cavities easily and effectively. Furthermore, this is the first report investigating the distribution and frequency of Veillonella species in tongue biofilms of Thai children.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Biofilms / growth & development*
  • Child
  • Clone Cells
  • DNA Primers / metabolism
  • DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / metabolism
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mouth / microbiology
  • Phylogeny
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
  • Species Specificity
  • Tongue / microbiology*
  • Veillonella / genetics
  • Veillonella / isolation & purification*

Substances

  • DNA Primers
  • DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases

Grants and funding

This study was supported in part by grants-in-aid from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS) (https://www.jsps.go.jp/) Fellows (grant No. 15J30007), Scientific Research from KAKENHI (grant No. 26462793), 2014-2015 Research Project of the Research Institute of Personalized Health Sciences (No. 2014-200-3), Health Sciences University of Hokkaido (http://www.hoku-iryo-u.ac.jp/~kotaisa/index.html), and Faculty of Dentistry Grant (2015) (Grant No. 0517.031/00437), Mahidol University (http://www.dt.mahidol.ac.th). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.