New species of gingival bacteria.

Fournier et al at the Faculte de Medecine Dentaire, Universitie Laval, Quebec, Canada have identified a new species of bacteria from the gingival sulcus of animals. The bacteria which is rod-shaped., Gram-negative, non-motile and non-spore-forming forms forms black-pigmented colonies; is asaccharolytic and exhibits obligate anaerobic growth.

The researchers propose to classify the new bacterium as Porphyromonas gulae sp. nov.. This species will include strains isolated from the gingival sulcus of various animal hosts. It is believed to be distinct from related strains f Porphyromonas gingivalis of human origin.

DNA-DNA homology data and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis give strong evidence that strains from the animal biotype of P. gingivalis represent a Porphyromonas species distinct from P. gingivalis.

Reference for further reading:
Fournier, D.Mouton, C. Lapierre, P. Kato, T. Okuda, K. Menard, C. Porphyromonas gulae sp. nov., an anaerobic, gram-negative coccobacillus from the gingival sulcus of various animal hosts. J Int J Syst Evol Microbiol: V 51: P 1179-89: 2001. Facultae de Medecine Dentaire, Universitie Laval, Citie Universitaire, Quebec, Canada.