Microbiology Research News and Articles - by David Ojcius

Rising temperatures & ecosystem disturbances are creating a hotbed for fungi that can spark hard-to-treat infections in peoples’ lungs, sinuses & brains.

Guest editors:  Ozlem Yilmaz and David Ojcius.  There is growing awareness that microbes in the oral cavity have a large effect on both oral disease and non-oral systemic disease. While previous research has focused on the role that known oral pathogens may play in disease, more recent research has revealed that the composition of the oral microbiota plays a large role in both health and disease. The oral microbiota is thought to have systemic effects through secretion of microbial metabolites or effector molecules and indirectly by modulating oral and systemic inflammation. This special issue will provide an update of current research on the association between the oral microbiota and oral and systemic disease.

  Compared with viromes of young adults (>18 yr) & old people (>60 yr), centenarians have diverse virome including previously undescribed viral genera

by Maria Avila, David M Ojcius, Ozlem Yilmaz.  The oral cavity of healthy individuals contains hundreds of different bacterial, viral, and fungal species. Many of these can associate to form biofilms, which are resistant to mechanical stress or antibiotic treatment. Most are also commensal species, but they can become pathogenic in responses to changes in the environment or other triggers in the oral cavity, including the quality of an individual's personal hygiene. The complexity of the oral microbiome is being characterized through the newly developed tools of metagenomics. How the microbiome of the oral cavity contributes to health and disease is attracting the interest of a growing number of cell biologists, microbiologists, and immunologists.

Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, have caused pandemics in the past two decades. The most prevalent SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern can re-infect individuals who have been previously infected with other variants or had protection from vaccines targeting the original SARS-CoV-2 variant. Given the high risk of transmission of coronavirus  via  aerosols produced during dental procedures, it is important to understand the future risk of coronavirus infection for oral health professionals and to diagnose quickly early stages of outbreaks. Testing of saliva for coronavirus may be the least invasive and most convenient method for following the outbreak at the individual and community level. This review will describe strategies for diagnosis of coronavirus in saliva.

The association between oral health and systemic disease has been established for some time. Medical research has pointed to a link between health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease and periodontal disease. What’s still debatable though is how oral bacteria can have such an impact on the oral cavity that it could lead to health conditions in other parts of the body.