The Distribution and Frequency of Oral Veillonella spp. in the Tongue Biofilm of Healthy Young Adults

Izumi Mashima, Arihide Kamaguchi, Futoshi Nakazawa

Five species of oral Veillonella, V. atypica, V. denticariosi, V. dispar, V. parvula, and V. rogosae, have been suggested to be early colonizers of dental biofilm and causes of opportunistic infections and oral malodor. However, the pathogenicity and the distribution of oral Veillonella spp. have not been clarified. Previously, oral Veillonella spp. were identified by using 16S rDNA sequence analysis. In addition, recently, Veillonella isolates from human tongue biofilm were identified by rpoB gene sequences, but these procedures are time-consuming and complex. To overcome this problem, Igarashi et al. have designed species-specific primer sets for oral Veillonella spp. by using a highly variable region in the rpoB gene. In the present study, the distribution and frequency of oral Veillonella spp. in the tongue biofilm of healthy adults in their 20s were examined by using these species-specific primer sets. Tongue biofilms of these subjects were found to be divided into two groups based on the distribution and frequency of oral Veillonella spp. In one group, V. rogosae was the predominant species; the other group consisted of mainly V. dispar and V. atypica. Multiple factors may influence these differences in distribution and frequency of oral Veillonella spp. in tongue biofilm. This is the first report also demonstrating the availability of the species-specific primer sets for PCR to determine the distribution and frequency of oral Veillonella spp. in the tongue biofilm of healthy adults in their 20s.