Fact: A much higher percentage of oral bacteria is culturable than bacteria that live in other environments.Why? The mouth is warm, humid and food abundant. In the lab, researchers cultivate bacteria on a plate that is warm, humid and food abundant. References: 1. ValmAM, MarkWelch JL, Borisy GG. CLASI-FISH: principles of combinatorial labeling and spectral imaging. Syst Appl Microbiol. 2012;35(8):496502. 2. MarkWelch JL, Rossetti BJ, RiekenCW, Borisy GG. Biogeography of a human oral microbiome at the micron scale. PNAS. 2016; Feb 9;113(6):E791-800. 3. Wilbert SA, MarkWelch JL, Borisy GG. Spatial Ecology of theHumanTongue DorsumMicrobiome. Cell Reports. 2020;Mar 24;30(12): 4003-15.e3. 4. MarkWelch JL, Dewhirst FE, Borisy GG. Biogeography of the Oral Microbiome:The Site-Specialist Hypothesis. Annu RevMicrobiol. 2019;Sep 8;73:335-58. 5. Tribble GD, AngelovN,Weltman R,Wang BY, Eswaran SV, et al. Frequency of Tongue Cleaning Impacts theHumanTongueMicrobiome Composition and Enterosalivary Circulation of Nitrate. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2019;Mar 1;9:39. was married to who, but they were able to figure it out because married people shared bacterial strains,” she says. “Romantic, no?” Humans and oral bacteria have co-evolved, and our bodies interact with bacteria in complicated ways. “We have a symbiotic relationship, most of the time,” Dr. MarkWelch says. Further Research Questions How can people positively influence their oral microbiomes? “Flossing, brushing, and likely tongue scraping are good,” Dr. MarkWelch says. “We know high sugar diets cause certain bacteria to proliferate and create a more acidic environment. And we think that a high nitrate diet benefits the microbiome, so drink your beet juice shots.” She explains that the interaction between oral bacteria and the inflammation response in the rest of body is linked, but researchers are still studying how. “It appears that if certain bacteria proliferate too much in the mouth, they can travel to other parts of the body and cause havoc,” she says. “I don’t think we fully understand yet howmuch of gingivitis and periodontitis are caused by bacteria and how much can be attributed to the immune system,” says Dr. Mark Welch. “These diseases involve an interaction between the two, and people who study bacteria think it’s all the bacteria and it matters what strains you have. In contrast, people who study the immune system think what really matters is immune response. The answer is probably somewhere in-between.” Research into the oral microbiome has potential to create both diagnostic tools and treatments. “We have technologies that allow us to identify bacteria very quickly now,” Dr. Mark Welch says. “What we are working to understand better is exactly how bacteria interact with each other and how they interact with human health.” Oral Microbiome Fun Facts Fact: The Human Oral Microbiome Database was expanded to include nasal bacteria,many of which are also skin bacteria, in addition to bacteria that are found when sampling from the teeth, tongue or gums. Fact: Many bacteria on indoor surfaces are from human skin.Water bottle refill stations tend to have oral bacteria on the spout.“Likely from people accidently bumping the mouth of their bottles on the spout while they refill,” Dr. Mark Welch says. 29 Issue 1 | 2024 | Issues and People
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