THE ORAL YEAST-LACTOBACILLUS RELATIONSHIP

II. YEAST-LACTOBACILLUS-SALIVA INTERRELATIONSHIPS

¹ Dental and Microbiological Research Section, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, Okla.

In a diphasic culture system, an oral strain of Candida albicans is an active donor of materials with pyridoxamine, calcium pantothenate, niacin, and riboflavin activity. The C. albicans did not supply a significant amount of folic acid, or any essential amino acid, except lysine. Pooled, whole saliva contained all of the vitamins, and eight of the eleven amino acids essential for the growth of the lactobacillus. In the presence of saliva, the syntrophic effect of the yeast, attributed to the release of vitamins, was minimized, due to the availability of these same factors in the saliva.