Exploring bacterial diversity of endodontic microbiota by cloning and sequencing 16S rRNA

The characterization of microbial communities infecting the endodontic system in each clinical condition may help on the establishment of a correct prognosis and distinct strategies of treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine the bacterial diversity in primary endodontic infections by 16S ribosomal-RNA (rRNA) sequence analysis.

Samples from root canals of untreated asymptomatic teeth (n = 12) exhibiting periapical lesions were obtained, 16S rRNA bacterial genomic libraries were constructed and sequenced, and bacterial diversity was estimated.

A total of 489 clones were analyzed (mean, 40.7 ± 8.0 clones per sample). Seventy phylotypes were identified of which six were novel phylotypes belonging to the family Ruminococcaceae. The mean number of taxa per canal was 10.0, ranging from 3 to 21 per sample; 65.7% of the cloned sequences represented phylotypes for which no cultivated isolates have been reported. The most prevalent taxa were Atopobium rimae (50.0%), Dialister invisus, Prevotella oris, Pseudoramibacter alactolyticus, and Tannerella forsythia (33.3%).

Although several key species predominate in endodontic samples of asymptomatic cases with periapical lesions, the primary endodontic infection is characterized by a wide bacterial diversity, which is mostly represented by members of the phylum Firmicutes belonging to the class Clostridia followed by the phylum Bacteroidetes.