The Effect of Benzyl Isothiocyanate on the Expression of Genes Encoding NADH Oxidase and Fibronectin-Binding Protein in Oral Streptococcal Biofilms

• Published in: Frontiers in oral health Vol. 3; p. 863723
• Main Authors: Alhandal, Hawraa, Almesaileikh, Esraa, Bhardwaj, Radhika G, Al Khabbaz, Areej, Karched, Maribasappa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 11-04-2022
• Subjects: antibacterial agents; biofilm; gene expression; gram-positive bacteria; Miswak; Oral Health; gram-positive bacteria; antibacterial agents; biofilm; Miswak; oral health; gene expression; streptococci
• ISSN: 2673-4842; 2673-4842
• DOI: 10.3389/froh.2022.863723

Recent studies have shown that antimicrobial treatment results in up- or down regulation of several virulence-associated genes in bacterial biofilms. The genes encoding NADH oxidase (
) and fibronectin-binding protein (
) are known to play important roles in biofilm growth of some oral bacterial species. The objective was to study the effect of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), an antimicrobial agent from Miswak plant, on the expression of
and
genes in some oral streptococci. The biofilms were treated with BITC and mRNA expression of
and
genes was measured by comparative ΔΔCt method. The highest amount of biofilm mass was produced by
, followed by
and
. Upon treatment with BITC,
biofilms showed highest folds change in mRNA expression for both
and
genes followed by
, and
.
mRNA levels for
were extremely low. In conclusion, BITC treatment of the biofilms caused an upregulation of biofilm-associated genes
and
genes in most of the tested species suggesting the significance of
genes in biofilm lifestyle of these oral bacteria and needs further investigation to understand if it contributes to antimicrobial resistance.