Oxidation of primary bile acids by a 7 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase elaborating Clostridium bifermentans soil isolate.

A gram-positive, rod-shaped anaerobe (strain F-6) was isolated from soil. This organism was identified by cellular morphology as well as fermentative and biochemical data as Clostridium bifermentans. Strain F-6 formed 7-ketolithocholic acid from chenodeoxycholic acid and 7-ketodeoxycholic acid from cholic acid in whole cell cultures, but did not transform deoxycholic acid, ursodeoxycholic acid, or ursocholic acid.

Coaggregation of oral Bacteroides species with other bacteria: central role in coaggregation bridges and competitions.

Seventy-three freshly isolated oral strains representing 10 Bacteroides spp. were tested for their ability to coaggregate with other oral gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. None coaggregated with any of the gram-negative strains tested, which included Capnocytophaga gingivalis, C.

Comparative bacteriology of juvenile periodontitis.

Statistical comparisons of the floras associated with juvenile periodontitis, severe periodontitis, and moderate periodontitis indicated that differences in the bacterial compositions of affected sites in these populations were not statistically significant. The subgingival flora of affected juvenile periodontitis sites was statistically significantly different from the adjacent supragingival flora and from the subgingival floras of people with healthy gingiva and of children with developing (experimental) gingivitis. However, the subgingival flora of affected juvenile periodontitis sites was not significantly different from the flora of sites with gingival index scores of 1 or 2 in adults with developing (experimental) gingivitis.

Variation in periodontal floras.

Statistical analyses indicated (i) that the floras of individual samples taken from the depth of sulci with nickel-plated Morse 00 scalers were highly reproducible and representative of the flora present at any given time, (ii) that the different compositions of floras of different people with similar clinical signs were statistically highly significant, and (iii) that floras of different affected sites may differ significantly in some (two of three) people at any one time or may differ from week to week in other people (one of three). Thus the flora composition of individual sites appears to be in dynamic flux, probably in response either to environmental changes or to host responses. There was no evidence that double sampling per se (two single passes with 00 scalers) changed the composition of the flora.

Formation of urso- and ursodeoxy-cholic acids from primary bile acids by a Clostridium limosum soil isolate.

A gram-positive, rod-shaped anaerobe (isolate F-14) was isolated from soil. This organism was identified by cellular morphology as well as by fermentative and biochemical data as Clostridium limosum. Isolate F-14 formed ursocholic acid (UC) and 7-ketodeoxycholic acid (7-KDC) from cholic acid (CA), and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDC) and 7-ketolithocholic acid (7-KLC) from chenodeoxycholic acid (CDC) in whole cell cultures, but did not transform deoxycholic acid (DC).

Bacteriology of experimental gingivitis in children.

Children are more resistant to gingivitis than are adults. To determine possible differences in their periodontal floras, an experimental gingivitis study, identical in design to one reported earlier with young adults, was conducted with four 4- to 6-year-old children. The incidence of sites that developed gingival index scores of 2 in children was less than one-third of the incidence observed in adults.

Biosynthesis of androgen from cortisol by a species of Clostridium recovered from human fecal flora.

A hitherto unknown species of Clostridium, provisionally designated strain 19, was isolated from the fecal flora of a healthy human adult. This strain synthesizes a constitutive desmolase that cleaves the side chain of cortisol to form 11 beta-hydroxy-4-androstene-3,17-dione. The enzymatic conversion is best demonstrated in supplemented peptone broth and in prereduced brain-heart infusion broth.

Taxonomy of anaerobes: present state of the art.

Results of nucleic acid studies, which indicate relationships among strains and species more clearly than do usual phenotypic tests, have led to new bacteriologic nomenclature. Some major changes in Bacteroides include the recognition of three species (Bacteroides melaninogenicus, Bacteroides denticola, and Bacteroides loescheii) formerly grouped in B. melaninogenicus subspecies melaninogenicus; two species (Bacteroides intermedius with two closely related homology groups and Bacteroides corporis) formerly grouped together as B.

Rutin-induced beta-glucosidase activity in Streptococcus faecium VGH-1 and Streptococcus sp. strain FRP-17 isolated from human feces: formation of the mutagen, quercetin, from rutin.

A fecal isolate, Streptococcus sp. strain FRP-17, and strain VGH-1 of Streptococcus faecium were shown to contain beta-glucosidases which converted rutin (quercetin-3-O-beta-D-glucose-alpha-L-rhamnose) to quercetin and were active against o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-glucose. The activity against rutin could be measured by increased mutagenicity in the Ames assay or visualized on thin-layer chromatography plates.

Bacteriology of moderate (chronic) periodontitis in mature adult humans.

A total of 171 taxa was represented among 1,900 bacterial isolates from 60 samples of sites affected with moderate periodontitis in 22 mature adult humans. The composition of the subgingival sulcus flora was statistically significantly different from that of the adjacent supragingival flora and the subgingival flora of 14 people with healthy gingiva, but was not significantly different from that of sulci affected with severe periodontitis in 21 young human adults. The sulcus floras of moderate periodontitis and severe periodontitis shared many of their predominant bacterial species, but there were differences in the relative proportions of some of these species.

New Actinomyces and Streptococcus coaggregation groups among human oral isolates from the same site.

The coaggregation properties of recent human oral streptococcal and actinomyces isolates from the same site were determined and compared with the coaggregation properties of well-characterized stock strains of these two kinds of bacteria. Streptococcus sanguis, Actinomyces viscosus, Actinomyces naeslundii, and phenotypically similar strains of actinomyces were isolated from subgingival samples from periodontally healthy older individuals, from persons participating in an experimental gingivitis study, and from young persons with localized (juvenile) and generalized (severe) periodontitis. All 34 of the actinomyces isolates coaggregated with reagent strains of S.

Relationships among the oral fusobacteria assessed by DNA-DNA hybridization.

DNA was purified from 16 strains of Fusobacterium nucleatum and from five strains representing other Fusobacterium species. The relationships among fusobacteria were examined by DNA-DNA hybridization and by determining the guanine plus cytosine content of the DNA. F.

Infectious necrotic hepatitis caused by an unclassified anaerobic bacillus in the water snake.

Necrotic hepatitis resembling black disease of ruminants is described in a group of five water snakes (Natrix sipedon pictiventirs). Lesions varied from multifocal granulomas to massive coagulation necrosis. A bacterium recovered from the livers could not be classified, but closely resembled Eubacterium tarantellus.

Acetone, Isopropanol, and Butanol Production by Clostridium beijerinckii (syn. Clostridium butylicum) and Clostridium aurantibutyricum.

Thirty-four strains representing 15 species of anaerobic bacteria were screened for acetone, isopropanol, and n-butanol (solvent) production. Under our culture conditions, several strains of Clostridium beijerinckii and C. aurantibutyricum produced at least 40 mM n-butanol (C.

Continuous-flow cultures as in vitro models of the ecology of large intestinal flora.

An anaerobic continuous-flow (CF) culture method has been developed which reproduces a number of bacterial interactions that occur in the large intestine of mice. These were determined in the following ways. (i) Bacterial counts in smears stained with 37 specific fluorescent antisera showed that the numeric balance between 37 strict anaerobes isolated from conventional mice was maintained in CF culture of conventional mouse flora in the same manner as in conventional mice.

Bacteriology of severe periodontitis in young adult humans.

A total of 78 bacteriological samples were taken from the supragingival tooth surface after superficial cleaning with toothpicks or from the periodontal sulci of 42 affected sites in 21 adolescents or young adults with severe generalized periodontitis. Of 190 bacterial species, subspecies, or serotypes detected among 2,723 isolates, 11 species exceeded 1% of the subgingival flora and were most closely associated with the diseased sulci. Eleven others were also sufficiently frequent to be suspect agents of tissue destruction.

Bacteriology of experimental gingivitis in young adult humans.

From replicate trials of experimental gingivitis in four periodontally healthy subjects, 166 bacterial species and subspecies were detected among 3,034 randomly selected isolates from 96 samples. Of these bacteria, Actinomyces naeslundii (serotype III and phenotypically similar strains that were unreactive with available antisera), Actinomyces odontolyticus (serotype I and phenotypically similar strains that were unreactive with available antisera), Fusobacterium nucleatum, Lactobacillus species D-2, Streptococcus anginosus, Veillonella parvula, and Treponema species A appeared to be the most likely etiological agents of gingivitis. Statistical interpretations indicated that the greatest source of microbiological variation of the total flora observed was person-to-person differences in the floras.

Formation of ursodeoxycholic acid from chenodeoxycholic acid by a 7 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-elaborating Eubacterium aerofaciens strain cocultured with 7 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-elaborating organisms.

A gram-positive, anaerobic, chain-forming, rod-shaped anaerobe (isolate G20-7) was isolated from normal human feces. This organism was identified by cellular morphology as well as fermentative and biochemical data as Eubacterium aerofaciens. When isolate G20-7 was grown in the presence of Bacteroides fragilis or Escherichia coli (or another 7 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase producer) and chenodeoxycholic acid, ursodeoxycholic acid produced.

Electrophoretic study of Clostridium species.

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis of soluble cellular proteins (without sodium dodecyl sulfate) of 70 Clostridium species indicated that the procedure was readily applicable to the differentiation of species in the genus. The protein patterns correlated well with the available DNA homology data and with most accepted differential tests. Results indicated that several earlier names for species were synonyms of those of accepted species and that two accepted species may be synonymous.

Polyclonal B-cell activation induced by extracts of Gram-negative bacteria isolated from periodontally diseased sites.

The objective of this research was to determine whether gram-negative bacteria frequently isolated from periodontally diseased sites contained polyclonal B-cell activators. Polyclonal B-cell activation, which results in nonspecific activation of multiple B-cell clones was analyzed by a hemolysis-in-gel assay designed to detect a broad range of antibody specificities. Extracts from numerous bacterial strains, including Bacteroides gingivalis, Bacteroides melaninogenicus subsp.

Polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis of soluble proteins for studies of bacterial floras.

A polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis procedure was used to compare cellular proteins from bacterial isolates of gingival crevice floras. Isolates with identical protein patterns consistently were shown to be members of the same species. When used to screen isolates, the procedure reduced total analytical time and expense without sacrificing accuracy, and it provided additional verification of the identity of strains characterized by conventional phenotypic tests.

Production of indole-3-propanoic acid and 3-(p-hydroxyphenyl)propanoic acid by Clostridium sporogenes: a convenient thin-layer chromatography detection system.

Indole-3-propanoic acid (IPA), 3-(p-hydroxyphenyl)propanoic acid (HPPA), and 3-phenylpropanoic acid (PPA) were present in the spent bacterial media of Clostridium sporogenes (20/20 strains) and C. cylindrosporum (1/1 strains), but absent in 32 other clostridial species (74 strains) tested. Both IPA and HPPA (but not PPA) could be readily detected by thin-layer chromatography and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde spray reagent.