Bacterial enzyme against caries
Soil bacteria will rid the teeth of plaque
Kirill Stasevich, Compulenta
The enzyme of the bacterium Bacillus licheniformis, which the researchers hoped to use to clean the outer skin of the ship, turned out to be effective against plaque.
Colony of B.licheniformis (photo by Jessica Van Tassell).
Toothpaste relieves us of plaque formed by bacteria and their waste products. Oral bacteria try to capture as much space as possible and displace competitors: they unite in colonies and form a film to protect against external influences. Bacteria are held together by a strong extracellular matrix, which includes, for example, DNA. This substance not only helps to form a colony, but also keeps microbes on the surface of the tooth or gum.
Toothpastes, no matter how effective they may be, cannot completely remove the durable and sticky plaque, and the most thorough cleaning of teeth cannot guarantee that you will not get caries in the future. Therefore, the discovery of scientists from the University of Newcastle (Great Britain) seems very promising, who told at the conference of the Society of Applied Microbiology how to quickly and effectively destroy plaque.
This task can be assigned to an enzyme derived from the bacterium Bacillus licheniformis.
B. licheniformis can be found both in the soil and in the ocean, where it lives on large seaweed. It is already being used for the industrial production of some enzymes, but the possibilities of B.licheniformis, apparently, have not yet been exhausted. The researchers hoped to get a substance from the bacterium that would help clean the outer skin of ships. But suddenly it turned out that this enzyme perfectly destroys plaque. Without the "cement" that binds them together, oral bacteria are defenseless before a toothbrush.
According to the authors of the work, the B.licheniformis enzyme could find wide application wherever there is a problem with a strong bacterial plaque, whether it is teeth, prosthetic limbs or plumbing.
Prepared based on the materials of the University of Newcastle: Tooth protection from the sea.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru05.07.2012