Rank: Species
Lineage: Bacteria;Fusobacteria;Fusobacteriia;Fusobacteriales;Fusobacteriaceae;Fusobacterium;Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. nucleatum
Description: Fusobacterium. This genus contains mostly obligately anaerobic bacilli. Some of them are motile, some are non-motile. They inhabit mucous membranes of humans and animals. Many of the isolates are spindle-shaped, or fusiform. However, there are also rods with parallel walls, but rounded or tapered ends. Fusobacterium nucleatum . This organism belongs to the normal microflora of the human oral and gastrointestinal tracts. It is a very long and slender spindle-shaped bacillus with sharply pointed ends that is characterized by the ability to invade soft tissues. Although not considered a major dental pathogen on its own, this anaerobe facilitates the aggregation and establishment of several other species including the dental pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis and Bacteroides forsythus. The bacterium is capable of forming coaggregates with other pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. It acts as a bridge between early and late colonizers of the tooth surface, and exerts synergism with other bacteria in mixed infections. It is most frequently associated with periodontal diseases, as well as with some invasive human infections of the head and neck, chest, lung, liver and abdomen, and some anginas. One of the major amino acid and sugar fermentation pathways in Fusobacterium nucleatum produces butyric and acetic acids. Production of butyrate has several consequences: mouth odor and decay of teeth, and inhibition of fibroblast proliferation, which prevents healing of wounds in the gum.
Reference Material:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/?term=Fusobacterium%20nucleatum%20subsp.%20nucleatum
