Metabolic crosstalk regulates Porphyromonas gingivalis colonization and virulence during oral polymicrobial infection.

Many human infections are polymicrobial in origin, and interactions among community inhabitants shape colonization patterns and pathogenic potential . Periodontitis, which is the sixth most prevalent infectious disease worldwide , ensues from the action of dysbiotic polymicrobial communities . The keystone pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis and the accessory pathogen Streptococcus gordonii interact to form communities in vitro and exhibit increased fitness in vivo .

Genes Contributing to Fitness in Abscess and Epithelial Cell Colonization Environments.

is an important cause of serious periodontal diseases, and is emerging as a pathogen in several systemic conditions including some forms of cancer. Initial colonization by involves interaction with gingival epithelial cells, and the organism can also access host tissues and spread haematogenously. To better understand the mechanisms underlying these properties, we utilized a highly saturated transposon insertion library of , and assessed the fitness of mutants during epithelial cell colonization and survival in a murine abscess model by high-throughput sequencing (Tn-Seq).

Amixicile, a novel strategy for targeting oral anaerobic pathogens.

The oral microflora is composed of both health-promoting as well as disease-initiating bacteria. Many of the disease-initiating bacteria are anaerobic and include organisms such as Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Tannerella forsythia. Here we investigated a novel therapeutic, amixicile, that targets pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR), a major metabolic enzyme involved in energy generation through oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate.