Common and Specific Dental Plaque Microbiomes of Human and Giant-Panda

Abstract

Objective: Dental plaque microbiome is the aetiological agent for dental caries and periodontal diseases in humans and animals. Previously we reported the first metagenomics data of animal dental plaque by presenting Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) dental plaque microbiome (IADR General sessions, Seattle, 2013). In this study, we compared the complexity of Giant Panda and Human dental plaque microbiomes utilizing the Human Oral Microbiome Database (HOMD). Method: Dental plaque samples were collected from healthy, caries-free, gingivitis-free sites (GP-H) and sites with gingivitis (GP-D) for metagenomics DNA sequencing using the Illumina and 454-Titanium platforms. Microbial identification and taxonomy were obtained using NCBI NR database and MEGAN/MG-RAST, respectively. Relative abundance and statistical analysis of bacterial, fungi and protozoa specific sequence reads between healthy and diseased samples were obtained by aligning reads to the corresponding NCBI RefSeq database using Novoalign. Bacterial complexities were further evaluated against HOMD to identify Human-specific and Panda-specific dental plaque microbiota.

Results: Approximately 16% of reads come from non-Panda species, with 110 bacteria, 14 fungi and 17 Protozoa identified at genus level.Fungi of the Giant Panda dental plaque microbiome include: Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Candida species. Comparison with HOMD revealed 182 common bacterial species shared between the Giant Panda and Human dental plaque microbiomes (e.g. Streptococcus, Porphyromonas). Some species were Panda-specific (Psychrobacter, Ramlibacter).

Conclusion: The present study compares Human and Giant Panda dental plaque microbiomes for the first time and identified common and species-specific dental plaque components. This metagenomics data will be a useful resource for further inter-species comparative studies that will shed more light on the pathogenic potential of dental plaque microbiome.

This abstract is based on research that was funded entirely or partially by an outside source: This study was funded by HKU Research Output Prize to CJS and Endowed Professorship to LJJ