Ribotype diversity of Actinomyces with similar intraoral tropism but different types of N-acetyl-beta-D-galactosamine binding specificity.

Sixty-three isolates of Actinomyces naeslundii genospecies 1 and 2 and Actinomyces odontolyticus from three subjects clustered into 22 ribotypes. Unique ribotypes were found in the subjects and within individual tissue sites (bucca, tooth and tongue). A odontolyticus ribotypes shared tongue-specific binding properties, while those of genospecies 1 and 2 from buccal and tooth surfaces shared different types of N-acetyl-beta-D-galactosamine binding specificity.