M. Balakrishnan et al., Diverse activity spectra of bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances having activity against mutans streptococci, CARIES RES, 35(1), 2001, pp. 75-80
Mutans streptococci (MS) are known to be causative agents of dental caries.
it has been suggested that these cariogenic bacteria could be eliminated f
rom dental plaque by application of bacteriocins or bacteriocin-like inhibi
tory substances (BLIS), In the present study 272 bacterial strains of the g
enera Streptococcus, Enterococcus and Staphylococcus were tested for their
production of BLIS activity against MS by use of a deferred antagonism test
on agar media supplemented with either whole blood or yeast extract, Altho
ugh only 14.3% of the test strains displayed anti-MS activity, the inhibito
ry agents produced by these strains were characterised by considerable dive
rsity in the range of their inhibitory action against both MS and other com
mon oral streptococcal species. It is suggested that combinations of relati
vely specifically targeted anti-MS BLIS may have potential application to t
he prevention of dental caries, Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.