Work

Deep Sequencing Identifies Ethnicity-Specific Bacterial Signatures in the Oral Microbiome

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: Oral infections have a strong ethnic predilection; suggesting that ethnicity is a critical determinant of oral microbial colonization. Dental plaque and saliva samples from 192 subjects belonging to four major ethnicities in the United States were analyzed using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (t-RFLP) and 16S pyrosequencing. Ethnicity-specific clustering of microbial communities was apparent in saliva and subgingival biofilms, and a machine-learning classifier was capable of identifying an individual's ethnicity from subgingival microbial signatures. The classifier identified African Americans with a 100% sensitivity and 74% specificity and Caucasians with a 50% sensitivity and 91% specificity. The data demonstrates a significant association between ethnic affiliation and the composition of the oral microbiome; to the extent that these microbial signatures appear to be capable of discriminating between ethnicities.

Source: PLoS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0077287

Authors: Matthew R. Mason, Haikady N. Nagaraja, Terry Camerlengo, Vinayak Joshi, Purnima S. Kumar

Institution: The Ohio State University

Language: English

Topic: Oral microbiology and periodontitis research

Subfield: Periodontics

Field: Dentistry

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,382