Necrotrophic growth of periodontopathogens is a novel virulence factor in oral biofilms KU Leuven Ghent University
The oral use of antimicrobial agents embedded in toothpastes and mouth rinses results in an oral microbial massacre with high amounts of dead bacteria in close proximity to few surviving bacteria. It was hypothesized that this provides the surviving pathogenic bacteria a large amount of dead microbial biomass as a nutritional source for growth (necrotrophy). This study demonstrated the necrotrophic growth of periodontal pathogens in the presence ...