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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Imaging Flow Cytometry to Study Microbial Autoaggregation
Published on: September 29, 2023
Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans serotype f O-polysaccharide mediates coaggregation with Fusobacterium nucleatum
D Rupani1, E A Izano, H C Schreiner
1Department of Oral Biology, New Jersey Dental School, Newark, NJ, USA.
Background/Aims:
Intergeneric bacterial coaggregation may play an important role in plaque development.
Methods:
In this study we investigated the coaggregation reaction between two periodontal pathogens, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Fusobacterium nucleatum.
Results:
Previous studies showed that A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype b strains coaggregate with F. nucleatum strain PK1594, and that A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype b O-polysaccharide (O-PS) is the receptor responsible for coaggregation between A. actinomycetemcomitans and F. nucleatum. A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype f O-PS has been shown to be structurally and antigenically related to serotype b O-PS. In the present study we show that A. actinomycetemcomitans strain CU1060N, a serotype f strain, also coaggregated with F. nucleatum PK1594. Like coaggregation between serotype b strains and F. nucleatum, coaggregation between CU1060N and F. nucleatum was inhibited by galactose. An O-PS mutant of CU1060N failed to coaggregate with F. nucleatum.
Conclusion:
We concluded that A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype f O-PS, like serotype b O-PS, mediates coaggregation between A. actinomycetemcomitans and fusobacteria.
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