The influence of oral Veillonella species on biofilms formed by Streptococcus species

Oral Veillonella, Veillonella atypica, Veillonella denticariosi, Veillonella dispar, Veillonella parvula, Veillonella rogosae, and Veillonella tobetsuensis are known as early colonizers in oral biofilm formation. To investigate the role of oral Veillonella, biofilms formed by the co-culture of Streptococcus gordonii, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus salivarius, or Streptococcus sanguinis, with oral Veillonella were examined at the species level. The amount of biofilm formed by S. mutans, S. gordonii, and S. salivarius in the presence of the six Veillonella species was greater than that formed in the control experiments, with the exception of S. mutans with V. dispar. In contrast, in the case of biofilm formation by S. sanguinis, the presence of Veillonella species reduced the amount of the biofilm, with the exception of V. parvula and V. dispar. The time-dependent changes in the amount of biofilm and the number of planktonic cells were grouped into four patterns over the 24 combinations. Only that of S. gordonii with V. tobetsuensis showed a unique pattern. These results indicate that the mode of action of this combination differed from that of the other combinations with respect to biofilm formation. It is possible that there may be several factors involved in the interaction between Streptococcus and Veillonella species.