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Involvement of Sortase Anchoring of Cell Wall Proteins in Biofilm Formation by Streptococcus mutans

Oral Microbiology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Received 25 October 2004/ Returned for modification 4 January 2005/ Accepted 8 February 2005

Streptococcus mutans is one of the best-known biofilm-forming organisms associated with humans. We investigated the role of the sortase gene (srtA) in monospecies biofilm formation and observed that inactivation of srtA caused a decrease in biofilm formation. Genes encoding three putative sortase-dependent proteins were also found to be up-regulated in biofilms versus planktonic cells and mutations in these genes resulted in reduced biofilm biomass.

Editor: V. J. DiRita

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