AUTHOR=Wang Yuan , Zhang Jie , Chen Xi , Jiang Wen , Wang Sa , Xu Lei , Tu Yan , Zheng Pei , Wang Ying , Lin Xiaolong , Chen Hui 

TITLE=Profiling of Oral Microbiota in Early Childhood Caries Using Single-Molecule Real-Time Sequencing

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02244

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2017.02244

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Alterations of oral microbiota are the main cause of the progression of caries. The goal of this study was to characterize the oral microbiota in childhood caries based on single-molecule real-time sequencing.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> A total of 21 preschoolers, aged 3–5 years old with severe early childhood caries, and 20 age-matched, caries-free children as controls were recruited. Saliva samples were collected, followed by DNA extraction, Pacbio sequencing, and phylogenetic analyses of the oral microbial communities.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Eight hundred and seventy six species derived from 13 known bacterial phyla and 110 genera were detected from 41 children using Pacbio sequencing. At the species level, 38 species, including <italic>Veillonella</italic> spp., <italic>Streptococcus</italic> spp., <italic>Prevotella</italic> spp., and <italic>Lactobacillus</italic> spp., showed higher abundance in the caries group compared to the caries-free group (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). The core microbiota at the genus and species levels was more stable in the caries-free micro-ecological niche. At follow-up, oral examinations 6 months after sample collection, development of new dental caries was observed in 5 children (the transitional group) among the 21 caries free children. Compared with the caries-free children, in the transitional and caries groups, 6 species, which were more abundant in the caries-free group, exhibited a relatively low abundance in both the caries group and the transitional group (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). We conclude that <italic>Abiotrophia</italic> spp., <italic>Neisseria</italic> spp., and <italic>Veillonella</italic> spp., might be associated with healthy oral microbial ecosystem. <italic>Prevotella</italic> spp., <italic>Lactobacillus</italic> spp., <italic>Dialister</italic> spp., and <italic>Filifactor</italic> spp. may be related to the pathogenesis and progression of dental caries.</p>