Isolation and Characterization of the Streptococcus mutans from Korean Children with Caries

Streptococcus mutans, one of a major causal agents of dental caries, is component of the dental plaque and produces various organic acids such as lactic acid as the end-product of glycolysis. In this study, we isolated S. mutans from Korean children with caries and also investigated the expression of protein under acid stress. S. mutans was identified at the species level using a 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing comparison method. The primer specificity was tested on eleven S. mutans strains isolated from Korean children with caries. The data showed that eleven strains are S. mutans. At treatment of concentration of 20 mM lactic acid in the mid-log phage, K-7 exhibited the highest maximum culture OD compared with those of other groups. As a consequence, we examined the expression of protein under 20 mM lactic acid stress using S. mutans K-7. The results of 2D gel electrophoresis by image analysis showed that thirteen proteins are up-regulated under the stress. Further study is being focused on amino acid analysis by mass spectrometry in order to analyze those spots.