The Relationship Between the Growth of Fusobacterium nucleatum ATCC 25586 in Glucose-Enriched Media and Protein Activity through Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR).

Abstract

Background: Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) is known to increase in number under hyperglycemic conditions, as it is thought to utilize glucose as a nutrient source. The process of glucose utilization in bacteria occurs with the assistance of enzymatic proteins such as glucokinase. This study aims to investigate the glucose utilization by F. nucleatum ATCC 25586 by examining its growth in glucose-enriched media and its relationship with protein activity through FTIR analysis.

Methods: F. nucleatum ATCC 25586 was cultured in media enriched with 2%, 1%, 0.75%, 0.5%, and 0.25% glucose. Its growth was measured using a spectrophotometer, and protein activity was assessed with FTIR at 24 and 48 hours of incubation.

Results: The results showed that F. nucleatum could utilize glucose as a nutrient source, indicated by growth and protein activity. The maximum growth of F. nucleatum occurred at a 0.75% glucose concentration at 24 hours. However, the Kruskal-Wallis test showed no significant differences in the growth and protein activity of F. nucleatum across the five glucose concentrations (growth, p =0.271 and protein, p =0.149). Spearman correlation analysis indicated no correlation between the growth and protein activity of F. nucleatum (p=0.323). The protein activity of F. nucleatum remained stable across various growth levels.

Conclusions: It can be concluded that glucose could influence the growth of F. nucleatum, although the growth and protein activity of the bacteria did not differ significantly based on glucose concentration. F. nucleatum grown in various glucose concentrations exhibits stable protein activity.