Microbial Diversity and Genetic Characterization of Cariogenic Biofilms

描述(由申请人提供)：拟议的研究有望为在变形链球菌中发现特定的基因决定因素提供重要的新信息，变形链球菌是一种与影响幼儿的严重龋齿密切相关的微生物，称为严重幼儿期龋齿或S-ECC。这些信息的长期益处应该会引导研究人员设计针对牙齿的诊断和预防策略，尽管他们更好地了解了其微生物原因。利用一种强大的抑制性消减DNA杂交技术，第一个具体目标是检验在S-ECC儿童中发现的变形链球菌与在无龋组儿童中发现的变形链球菌在基因组成上不同的假设。将识别和表征S肠杆菌菌株特有的遗传基因座。其中一些基因座将被证明是健康或疾病的生物标记物。利用多个测试分析的能力衍生出人工智能编程；生物标志物将被用作建模算法的基础，该算法能够将变形链球菌分类为两个类别(S-ECC或CF)之一。这项研究的第二个目的是调查与S-ECC或CF状态相关的变形链球菌，以寻找被认为影响变形链球菌致病或毒力的已知或可疑的遗传元件。第三个目标是调查S-ECC或CF儿童中更大的种族/民族多样性群体，以确定前两个目标中确定的生物标志物的存在与否。预计这项研究将产生疾病的遗传标记，能够为临床医生提供一种诊断测试，可以评估发生S-ECC的风险。7.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed studies are anticipated to yield important new information as to the presence of specific genetic determinants found in Streptococcus mutans, a microbe strongly associated with a severe dental caries in affecting young children called severe early childhood caries or S-ECC. The long-term benefit of such information should lead researchers toward devising both diagnostic and preventive strategies against dental though better understanding its microbial causation. Using a powerful technique of suppressive subtraction DNA hybridization, the first specific aim is to test the hypothesis that strains of S. mutans found in S-ECC children differ in genetic composition compared to strains found in caries-free (CF) children. Unique genetic loci that are specific to S-ECC strains will be identified and characterized. Some of these genetic loci will prove informative as biomarkers for health or disease. Using the power of multiple test analyses derived artificial intelligence programming; biomarkers will be used as the basis for a modeling algorithm capable of classifying strains of S. mutans in one of two categories (S-ECC or CF). The second aim of this study is to survey strains of S. mutans associated with either S-ECC or CF status for known or suspected genetic elements thought to influence the pathogenesis or virulence of S. mutans. The third aim is to survey a larger, racial/ethnical diverse population of S-ECC or CF children for the presence or absence of the biomarkers identified in the first two aims. It is anticipated that this research will yield genetic markers for disease capable of providing clinicians with a diagnostic test that can assess risk for developing S-ECC. 7.