Effect of subculturing on location of<i>Streptococcus mutans</i>antigens

Abstract

The location of lipoteichoic acid and 3 cell wall-associated protein antigens in fresh isolates of Streptococcus mutans (serotype c) and in variants derived from these parental strains by repeated subculture in vitro has been examined by electrophoretic and dot-immunobinding techniques. Following subculture there was a marked shift in the distribution of all four antigens from the cell wall to the extracellular culture supernatants. It is therefore apparent that that the decreased hydrophobicity and the impaired ability of the subcultured variants to colonise in vivo, as observed by others, cannot be correlated with changes in a single surface molecule.