In silico screening on pathogenicity potency of aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans

The pathogenicity of oral disease is related to the pathogenic bacteria that reside in the oral environment and produce virulent substances. Pathogenic bacteria may induce inflammation, resulting in periapical and periodontal tissue damage, potentially leading to systemic bacterial exposure. One arguable pathogen that may play important roles is Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. This bacterium is reported to produce virulent factors involved in destructing dental supporting tissues, as well as exhibit adaptation to host immune responses. Characterization of A. actinomycetemcomitans and its role in oral diseases are still and continued to be carried out to obtain understanding of its role in affecting oral diseases. However, the findings vary greatly among individuals and clinical conditions, while the existing data had not yet concluded. This study aims to observe A. actinomycetemcomitans genomic background towards its pathogenicity through in-silico approaches. 169 A. actinomycetemcomitans genomes with human hosts from NCBI were selected. The phylogenetics analysis showed kinship among the clusters of several individuals. A. actinomycetemcomitans had several virulence factors: ltxA, cdtA, cdtB and cdtC. Analysis of the virulence factors with gene ontology revealed the possible role of these factors in host cellular activity. This study depicted the relationship between A. actinomycetemcomitans genomes and their pathogenic characteristic.