The establishment of a community of oral bacteria that controls the growth of Candida albicans in a chemostat.

The purpose of this study was to establish and identify a community of oral bacteria that controls the growth of Candida albicans in the chemostat. The chemostat was operated under glucose-limiting conditions at a dilution rate of 0.05 h-1 and inoculated with a yeast-free suspension of a tongue scraping. After a steady state had been reached, it was inoculated with C. albicans to establish the yeast and determine whether its growth could be contained. The steady-state community comprised the species Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus sobrinus, Streptococcus mitis, Lactobacillus casei, Eubacterium saburreum, Veillonella dispar and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Bacteroides gracilus and Haemophilus segnis were also detected but infrequently. Yeast growth was suppressed and yeast cells were lost at the same rate as the theoretical washout rate. It is concluded that this mixed community of oral bacteria can be used to identify the parameters that maintain the equilibrium between oral bacteria and C. albicans in the oral cavity.