DNA PROBES FOR THE DETECTION OF PERIODONTAL PATHOGENS

THE ROLE OF EIKENELLA CORRODENS, FUSOBACTERIUM NUCLEATUM, AND WOLINELLA RECTA AS PATHOGENS ASSOCIATED IN DESTRUCTIVE PERIODONTAL DISEASE HAS BEEN DESCRIBED IN A NUMBER OF STUDIES USING CULTURE BASED ASSAY SYSTEMS. THE STANDARD CULTURE METHODS ARE INADEQUATE FOR THE ROUTINE DIAGNOSIS OF THESE PATHOGENS. BY DEVELOPING DNA PROBE-BASED ASSAYS FOR THE DETECTION OF THESE PATHOGENS, IT WOULD BE PRACTICAL TO DELIVER DIAGNOSTICALLY VALUABLE INFORMATION TO THE DENTAL PRACTITIONER ON A ROUTINE BASIS. DNA PROBES FOR THE DETECTION OFTARGET DNA FROM THESE ORGANISMS WILL BE DEVELOPED BY ISOLATION OF WHOLE GENOMIC SEQUENCES OR SPECIES-SPECIFIC SEGMENTS AND USE IN A STANDARD MEMBRANE HYBRIDIZATION ASSAY. CONVENTIONAL RADIO-LABELLING, NOVEL SAMPLE PREPARATION AND HYBRIDIZATION, AND RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY WILL BE EMPLOYED. PHASE II OBJECTIVES WILL INVOLVE CLINICAL STUDIES AND NON-ISOTOPIC METHODOLOGY. THE LONG TERM OBJECTIVE IS TO PROVIDE A RAPID, SENSITIVE AND ACCURATE DIAGNOSTIC BATTERY OF DNA PROBES FOR THE DETECTION OF PERIODONTAL DISEASE FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATION