Co-adhesion and biofilm formation by Fusobacterium nucleatum in response to growth pH
Abstract
Fusobacterium nucleatum is a Gram-negative anaerobic organism considered to play an important role in the progression of periodontal disease and is commonly found in clinical infections of other body sites. Apart from its metabolic versatility, its cell-surface properties enable it to attach to epithelial cells, collagen, gingival epithelial cells and other bacterial genera, but not with other Fusobacteria. The development of periodontitis is associated with a rise in pH in the gingival sulcus to around 8.5, and this is thought to occur by the catabolism of proteins supplied by gingival crevicular fluid. F. nucleatum is commonly isolated from diseased sites and has also been shown to survive in root canal systems at pH 9.0 after Ca(OH)(2) treatment. In order to survive hostile environmental conditions, such as nutrient deprivation and fluctuating temperature and pH, bacteria form biofilms, which are usually made up of multi-species co-aggregates. We have grown F. nucleatum in a chemostat at a growth rate consistent with that of oral bacteria in vivo and report that, at a growth pH of 8.2, F. nucleatum co-adheres and forms a homogeneous biofilm. Cell-surface hydrophobicity was determined in planktonic and co-adhering cells to characterise the interfacial interactions associated with the response to pH. Cell-surface hydrophobicity was found to increase at pH 8.2 and this was also associated with a decrease in the levels of intracellular polyglucose (IP) and an observed change in the bacterial cell morphology. To our knowledge, these results represent the first study in which F. nucleatum has been shown to co-adhere and form a biofilm, which may be important in the organism's persistence during the transition from health to disease in vivo.
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Cell surface hydrophobicity is another key factor contributing to bacterial biofilm formation, including oral bacteria such as P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum.
“Cell surface hydrophobicity is another key factor contributing to bacterial biofilm formation, including oral bacteria such as P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum [51,52].”
From Analysis of Chemical Structure and Antibiofilm Properties of Exopolysaccharides from Lactiplantibacillus plantarum EIR/IF-1 Postbiotics (2022) · cites this paper as [52]
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Dani, N., Joshi, C., Bhatt, V. H., Khanna, D., & Khedkar, S. (2014) · International Journal of Oral Implantology and Clinical Research · doi:10.5005/jp-journals-10012-1124
Tian, Z.-H., & Lio', P. (2026) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/2025.08.21.671586
“However, F. nucleatum ATCC 25586 (subsp. nucleatum), the strain commonly found in oral cavities, probably exhibits tolerance to alkaline conditions, as F. nucleatum is found to survive in root canal systems at pH 9.0 after Ca(OH) 2 treatment (Zilm and Rogers, 2007).”
InfluentialThe Impact of Serum on a Complex Synthetic Community Model of the Subgingival MicrobiomePreprint
Li, L., Smardz, M., Soh, D., Marsh, P. D., Hoare, A., & Diaz, P. I. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.10.07.681017
Remmani, N. B., Harous, Z. S., Alzaidy, R. Q., Ahmednour, S. A., Egusa, H., & Soliman, S. S. M. (2026) · Anaerobe · doi:10.1016/j.anaerobe.2026.103030
AI-2 Production in Fusobacterium nucleatum Is Subspecies-Specific and Uncoupled from Quorum SensingPreprint
Bibek, G. C., Xu, S., Tran, T., & Wu, C. (2026) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.64898/2026.03.02.709096
Li, L., Smardz, M., Soh, D., Marsh, P. D., Hoare, A., & Diaz, P. I. (2026) · The ISME Journal · doi:10.1093/ismejo/wrag070
“Indeed, another abundant community member, F.nucleatum ,cantolerateawiderangeofpHvaluesbutwhen cultured at a pH above 8 its phenotype changes with cells becoming significantly elongated, increasing their surface hydrophobicity and biofilmformation[76].”
- Authors
- Zilm, P. S., & Rogers, A. H.
- Affiliations
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Zilm, Peter S.
- ORCID
- Zilm, Peter S.
- Venue
- Anaerobe
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2007-06
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 146-152
- ISSN
- 1075-9964 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2034794071
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Anaerobe (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Australian Dental Research Foundation
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Microbial infections and disease research
- Keywords
- Fusobacterium nucleatum, biofilm formation, cell surface hydrophobicity, cell morphology, periodontitis, gingival crevicular fluid, anaerobic bacteria, bacterial persistence, oral microbiota
- MeSH terms
- Bacterial Adhesion, Dental Enamel, Gingiva, Humans, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Microscopy, Electron, Scanning, Surface Properties, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Biofilms, Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
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