Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have found the genetic code of bacteria, which could lead to treatments for periodontitis, according to a new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (March 18, 2013).
The study profiles the SR1 bacteria, a group of microbes present in many environments — ranging from the oral cavity to deep within the Earth — that have never been cultivated in the laboratory, according to the researchers. Human oral SR1 bacteria are elevated in periodontitis, they noted.
They also found that the SR1 bacteria employ a unique genetic code in which the codon UGA — a sequence of nucleotides guiding protein synthesis — appears not to serve its normal role as a stop code. In fact, they found that UGA serves to introduce a glycine amino acid instead.
The researchers believe the altered genetic code limits the exchange of genes between SR1 and other bacteria because they use a different genetic alphabet.
The findings could provide a better understanding of the microbiological factors of periodontitis and establish a framework to help scientists interpret genomic data from this bacterium and others that have the same altered genetic code.
The work was funded by a $1.2 million National Institutes of Health grant.
