Intergeneric rosettes: sequestered surface recognition among human periodontal bacteria.

The human oral bacteria, Streptococcus sanguis and Bacteroides loescheii, when mixed in equal numbers in vitro, formed large settling coaggregates. As the relative number of each cell type was changed, coaggregates became smaller until at cell-type ratios of 10 to 1, rosettes formed. Rosettes consisting of a streptococcal cell in the center surrounded by bacteroides cells exhibited surface recognition properties of only the bacteroides, which coaggregated with many other cell types such as Actinomyces naeslundii, and formed large settling multigeneric aggregates. The ecological significance of these results derives from the following: (i) the direct demonstration that intergeneric coaggregates can protect the central cell from or prevent its access to other cells in the environment, and (ii) the potential for these effects to occur during bacterial succession of various cell types observed in progressively more severe stages of human periodontal disease.