When it comes to bad breath, some bacterial interactions really stink

Masae KUBONIWA, Atsuo AMANO
Dept. of Preventive Dentistry, Graduate School of Dentistry

A research group led by Assoc.Prof. Masae KUBONIWA and Prof. Atsuo AMANO found that the oral bacterium Streptococcus gordonii activates another bacterial species, Fusobacterium nucleatum, to produce large quantities of methyl mercaptan, a compound responsible for bad breath. Disrupting this interaction could therefore help treat halitosis, and possibly also help prevent the development of more serious tooth and gum disease.

The article, “Interspecies metabolite transfer fuels the methionine metabolism of Fusobacterium nucleatum to stimulate volatile methyl mercaptan production” was published in mSystems at DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113599