Background Carriage of and infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae is known to predominantly induce T helper 17 (Th17) responses in humans, but the types of Th cells showing reactivity towards commensal streptococci with ...

The competence-stimulating peptide (CSP) and the sigX-inducing peptide (XIP) are known to induce Streptococcus mutans competence for genetic transformation. For both pheromones, direct identification of the native peptides ...

Selective markers employed in classical mutagenesis methods using natural genetic transformation can affect gene expression, risk phenotypic effects, and accumulate as unwanted genes during successive mutagenesis cycles. ...

The discovery that Streptococcus pneumoniae uses a competence-stimulating peptide (CSP) to induce competence for natural transformation, and that other species of the mitis and the anginosus streptococcal groups use a ...

In Streptococcus mutans, an oral colonizer associated with dental caries, development of competence for natural genetic transformation is triggered by either of two types of peptide pheromones, competence-stimulating ...

Naturally acquired immunity against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) is thought to be dependent on anti-capsular antibody. However nasopharyngeal colonisation by Streptococcus pneumoniae also induces antibody to protein ...

The chemical decontamination of infected dental implants is essential for the successful treatment of peri-implantitis. The aim of this study was to assess the antibacterial effect of a hydrogen peroxide-titanium dioxide ...

Commensal microbes are currently in the limelight in biomedical research because they play an important role in health and disease. Humans harbor an enormous diversity of commensals in various parts of the body, including ...

Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus mitis are genetically closely related and both frequently colonise the naso-oropharynx, yet S. pneumoniae is a common cause of invasive infections whereas S. mitis is only weakly ...

Here we show that mouse IgG2a and IgG1 antibodies specific for the commensal Streptococcus mitis cross-react with pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes 2 and 4, although the cross-reactivity conferred by IgG2a is ...