@article {8588,
	title = {Candida albicans stimulates Streptococcus mutans microcolony development via cross-kingdom biofilm-derived metabolites},
	journal = {Scientific Reports},
	volume = {7},
	number = {41332},
	year = {2017},
	month = {30 Jan, 2017},
	abstract = {Candida albicans\&nbsp;is frequently detected with heavy infection of\&nbsp;Streptococcus mutans\&nbsp;in plaque-biofilms from children affected with early-childhood caries, a prevalent and costly oral disease. The presence of\&nbsp;C. albicans\&nbsp;enhances\&nbsp;S. mutans\&nbsp;growth within biofilms, yet the chemical interactions associated with bacterial accumulation remain unclear. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate how microbial products from this cross-kingdom association modulate\&nbsp;S. mutans\&nbsp;build-up in biofilms. Our data revealed that bacterial-fungal derived conditioned medium (BF-CM) significantly increased the growth of\&nbsp;S. mutans\&nbsp;and altered biofilm 3D-architecture in a dose-dependent manner, resulting in enlarged and densely packed bacterial cell-clusters (microcolonies). Intriguingly, BF-CM induced\&nbsp;S. mutans gtfBC\&nbsp;expression (responsible for Gtf exoenzymes production), enhancing Gtf activity essential for microcolony development. Using a recently developed nanoculture system, the data demonstrated simultaneous microcolony growth and\&nbsp;gtfB\&nbsp;activation\&nbsp;in situ\&nbsp;by BF-CM. Further metabolites/chromatographic analyses of BF-CM revealed elevated amounts of formate and the presence of\&nbsp;Candida-derived farnesol, which is commonly known to exhibit antibacterial activity. Unexpectedly, at the levels detected (25{\textendash}50 μM), farnesol enhanced\&nbsp;S. mutans-biofilm cell growth, microcolony development, and Gtf activity akin to BF-CM bioactivity. Altogether, the data provide new insights on how extracellular microbial products from cross-kingdom interactions stimulate the accumulation of a bacterial pathogen within biofilms.},
	url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5278416/},
	author = {Kim, Dongyeop and Sengupta, Arjun and Niepa, Tagbo H.R.}
}
