''Streptococcus gordonii'' is a
Gram-positive
In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall.
The Gram stain is ...
bacterium
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the ...
included among some of the initial colonizers of the
periodontal environment. The organism, along with related oral streptococci, has a high affinity for molecules in the salivary pellicle (or coating) on tooth surfaces. ''S. gordonii'' therefore can rapidly colonize clean tooth surfaces, and ''S. gordonii'' along with related organisms comprise a high percentage, up to 70%, of the bacterial
biofilm
A biofilm is a Syntrophy, syntrophic Microbial consortium, community of microorganisms in which cell (biology), cells cell adhesion, stick to each other and often also to a surface. These adherent cells become embedded within a slimy ext ...
that forms on clean tooth surfaces. Generally harmless in the mouth, ''S. gordonii'' can cause acute bacterial endocarditis upon gaining access systemically. ''S. gordonii'' also forms an attachment substratum for later colonizers of tooth surface and can modulate the pathogenicity of these secondary colonizers through interspecies communication mechanisms.
The whole
genome
A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...
sequence of ''S. gordonii'' CCUG 33482 type strain was deposited and published in
DNA Data Bank of Japan
The DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ) is a biological database that collects DNA sequences. It is located at the National Institute of Genetics (NIG) in the Shizuoka prefecture of Japan. It is also a member of the International Nucleotide Sequence Da ...
,
European Nucleotide Archive
The European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) is a repository providing free and unrestricted access to annotated nucleic acid sequence, DNA and RNA sequences. It also stores complementary information such as experimental procedures, details of Genome p ...
and
GenBank
The GenBank sequence database is an open access, annotated collection of all publicly available nucleotide sequences and their protein translations. It is produced and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI; a par ...
in 2016 under the accession numbe
LQWV00000000
DNA repair
Upon systemic infection, ''S. gordonii'' is subjected to conditions in human blood that
damage its DNA. However, DNA damage can be tolerated by the use of
DNA repair
DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the DNA molecules that encode its genome. A weakened capacity for DNA repair is a risk factor for the development of cancer. DNA is cons ...
processes.
The ''S. gordonii'' genome encodes a two protein complex, RexAB, that is employed in
recombinational repair and can promote survival by repairing DNA double-strand breaks.
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References
External links
Type strain of ''Streptococcus gordonii'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Streptococcaceae
Gram-positive bacteria
{{Streptococcaceae-stub