2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Challenge to generate site-direct mutants of the periodontal pathogen Prevotella intermedia

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24659817
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Morphological basic dentistry
Research Institution	Nagasaki University
Principal Investigator	NAKAYAMA Koji 長崎大学, 医歯(薬)学総合研究科, 教授 (80150473)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	NAITO Mariko 長崎大学, 医歯薬学総合研究科, 准教授 (20244072)
Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha)	SHOJI Mikio 長崎大学, 医歯薬学総合研究科, 助教 (10336175) YUKITAKE Hideharu 長崎大学, 医歯薬学総合研究科, 技術職員 (30380984)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	歯周病 / 細菌 / 遺伝子操作
Research Abstract	We found a novel secretion system, the type IX secretion system (T9SS), in Porphyromonas gingivalis that translocates virulence factors across the outer membrane. T9SS-related genes are found in the genome of another periodontal pathogen, Prevotella intermedia. As molecular genetic manipulation has not been established in Pre. intermedia, virulence factors of Pre. intermedia have not been elucidated by molecular genetic analysis. In this study, we tried to establish site-directed mutagenesis in P. intermedia. We succeeded to generate T9SS mutants. These mutants showed the defects of pigmentation on blood agar plates and hemagglutination, indicating that T9SS is important for the virulence of Pre. intermedia.

(4 results)