[Characterization of fatty acid composition in the cytoplasmic membrane of Streptococcus mutans]

The present study was performed to investigate the role of the fatty acid composition of cytoplasmic membranes in bacterial differentiation and the appearance of cariogenic properties of Streptococcus mutans. Bacterial fatty acid composition was effective for differentiation of Streptococcus mutans from the other oral streptococci. The composition obtained from the reference strains and the clinical isolates involved five groups and was useful as a rapid screening index for Streptococcus mutans. Compositional changes in membrane lipids played important roles in synthesis and secretion of extracellular glucosyltransferase for Streptococcus mutans. A characteristic property of Streptococcus mutans, resistance to 40% sucrose in the medium, is ascribable to compositional changes in membrane lipids, especially the glycolipids, of Streptococcus mutans.