Basic Biological Sciences

We compared the cellular fatty acid and protein content of 43 strains of oral fusobacteria isolated from patients with chronic gingivitis, acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis, and juvenile and adult periodontitis, as well as from the stump-tailed macaque, to that of eight reference strains of oral and non-oral Fusobacterium species. A gas-liquid chromatographic examination of trimethylsilyl derivatives of the fatty acid methyl esters revealed n14:0, 3-OH-14:0, n16:0, 16:1, 3-OH-16:0, n18:0, and 18:1 in each of the 51 study strains, and a variable occurrence of 14 other fatty acids. The n16:0 to 3-OH-16:0 ratio distinguished between Fusobacterium nucleatum and the non-oral species Fusobacterium varium, Fusobacterium necrophorum, Fusobacterium russii, Fusobacterium necrogenes, Fusobacterium mortiferum, and Fusobacterium naviforme. The soluble protein content, as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, varied considerably among the oral fusobacterial strains studied, and underscored the heterogenous nature of these organisms. "Fingerprinting" of oral fusobacteria may be readily accomplished by polypeptide analysis.