A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DENTAL ACIDURIC ORGANISMS AND LACTOBACILLUS ACIDOPHILUS

Abstract

Twenty-one strains of aciduric organisms isolated from teeth, and 9 strains of L. acidophilus obtained from various sources, were studied comparatively as to morphological, biochemical, and serological relations. No consistent morphological or biochemical differences could be discovered between the groups. All of the strains were generally variable, the dental group somewhat more so than the intestinal; but these differences were in degree rather than in kind, and at most were slight. In serological reactions, no clear distinction between the 2 groups could be found. Most of the strains of both groups showed marked cross-agglutination, only 1 dental strain being distinctly aberrant in this respect. While, on the basis of a study of only 30 strains, the authors do not feel justified in generalizing to include all dental aciduric bacteria, they see no reason, pending a more extensive investigation, for differentiation between these organisms and L. acidophilus of the intestines.