Kinetics of coaggregation of Porphyromonas gingivalis with Fusobacterium nucleatum using an automated microtiter plate assay

Coaggregation between Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum strains was previously studied using either a semi-quantitative macroscopic assay or radioactive tracer assays. A new automated microtiter plate assay is introduced, in which the plate reader (Vmax) was adapted to allow quantitative evaluation of the kinetics of coaggregation. F nucleatum PK 1594 coaggregated with P. gingivalis HG 405 with a maximal coaggregation rate of 1.05 mOD/min, which occurred at a P. gingivalis to F. nucleatum cell ratio of 1 to 2. F. nucleatum PK 1594 failed to do so with P. gingivalis strains A 7436 or ATCC 33277. Galactose inhibition of this coaggregation could be quantitatively measured over a wide range of concentrations to demonstrate its dose-dependent manner. P. gingivalis HG 405 failed to coaggregate with F. nucleatum strains ATCC 25586 and ATCC 49256. The assay used in the present study is a sensitive and efficient quantitative automated tool to study coaggregation and may replace tedious radioactive tracer assays.