Bicarbonate and potassium regulation of the shape of Streptococcus mutans NCTC 10449S.

Morphological changes of S. mutans NCTC 10449S associated with growth in modified Jordan medium and FMC medium (Terleckyj et al., Infect. Immun. 11:649-655, 1975) were studied by scanning electron microscopy. The cells were bacillary in Jordan medium, but coccoid and of unequal size in FMC. Transfer of the cells from Jordan medium to FMC and vice versa reversed their shapes, as did salt exchange between these media. Morphological changes could not be ascribed to either medium pH, concentration of P, or Na+/K+ ratio. However, they were growth dependent, since the changes did not occur when the cells were suspended in salt components alone or in media supplemented with protein synthesis inhibitors. Only a high bicarbonate/K+ ratio, as in FMC, produced spherical cells, whereas cells remained bacillary in medium with a low bicarbonate/K+ ratio, as in Jordan medium. Manipulating this ratio in other media resulted in similar shape changes. Thus, the shape of S. mutans 10449S can be dictated by the ratio of bicarbonate to K+ in the growth medium.