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Review
. 2025 Jun 27:15:1625103.
doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1625103. eCollection 2025.

Multifaceted roles of Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans in contributing to polybiofilm infections in early childhood caries

Anto Benignus Francis #  1 , Rajendra Prasad Settem #  2 , Moghanram Jeyamoorthy  1 , Venkata Harshith Nuthangi  1 , Ashu Sharma  2 , Satish Kumar Rajasekharan  1
Affiliations
Review

Multifaceted roles of Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans in contributing to polybiofilm infections in early childhood caries

Anto Benignus Francis et al. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. .

Abstract

This succinct article addresses the multifaceted interactions between the fungal organism Candida albicans and the Gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus mutans in the development of oral biofilms and pathobiology of oral diseases. S. mutans is considered to be a major pathogen in the development of dental caries. It is often found to interact with C. albicans in oral infection settings. The interaction of these organisms is often mediated via the binding of Glucosyltransferase (GtfB) enzyme secreted by S. mutans to C. albicans surface proteins Als1 and Hwp1. During these interactions, both C. albicans and S. mutans exhibit increased gene regulatory activity, leading to the modulation of virulence attributes and adaptation to environmental changes. This results in the strong attachment of the species to tooth surfaces and increased resistance of the mixed species biofilms to external factors. Mechanistically, intercellular communication between these species in mixed biofilms through quorum sensing and production of exoenzymes such as glucosyltransferases account for the synergy and modulation of their virulence attributes. Specifically, these mixed-species biofilms exhibit increased acid production and enhanced resistance to antimicrobial agents. Understanding these complex interkingdom pattern of interactions is essential to develop efficient therapeutic approaches against biofilm-associated oral infections. The review also highlights probiotic strategies to interfere with these interkingdom interactions to combat oral diseases like early childhood caries (ECC).

Keywords: Candidia albicans; ECC; Streptococcus mutans; biofilm; polybiofilms.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cross-kingdom interactions of S. mutans and C. albicans in oral microenvironment impact the development of Early childhood caries and various oral infections.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The interaction of S. mutans with C. albicans influences the virulence of C. albicans, by the secreted molecules and cell surface molecules by S. mutans, which also secretes Gtfs that will be attached to C. albicans and plays a crucial role in pathogenesis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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