Abstract
The genus Fusobacterium includes not only strict anaerobic Gram-negative rods found in the normal oral and gastrointestinal microbiota but also those involved in a variety of clinical infections. This amphibiontic relationship with the host may be related to an adaptive capacity of aerotolerance permitting their passage from an extremely reduced (digestive ecosystem) to a less reduced (host tissue) environment. In the present study, 74 oral stock or recently isolated strains of Fusobacterium recovered from human beings (58) and marmosets (16) were evaluated for their aerotolerant capability. The marmoset strains were also evaluated after a handling period of 2 months in an anaerobic chamber. StockFusobacterium strains from both healthy human (mean tolerance time: 23.71±8.67 h) and marmoset (21.25±9.36 h) oral cavities were more aerotolerant (P<0.05) than recent isolates from healthy human (10.67±10.61 h) and marmoset (8.33±8.46 h) oral cavities. After a two month handling period, the same fresh isolates became more aerotolerant (P<0.05) than soon after isolation (30.00±0.00 h and 16.17±9.36 h for human and marmoset strains, respectively). There was no difference (P>0.05) between stock strains from healthy human oral cavities (23.71±8.67 h) or human oral cavities presenting periodontal disease (17.91±10.10 h) or between healthy human and marmoset strains either after a long time storage or a recent isolation. But after a two-month handling period, the recently isolated strains from marmosets were less aerotolerant than those of human origin (P<0.05). During growth in culture, all strains tested were more aerotolerant during the exponential phase and drastically lost this characteristic when they reached the stationary stage. We conclude that the Fusobacterium strains used in these experiments present a wide and varying aerotolerance capability, probably important for the adaptation of these bacteria to the environment.
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