Effect of Sugar Analogues on Growth, Sugar Utilization, and Acid Production by Streptococcus mutans

¹ Microbiology Research Laboratories, School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA

Studies on the effect of various structural analogues of glucose of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)-dependent sugar transport in Streptococcus mutans showed that sugars with alterations at carbon 2 were markedly inhibitory. Low concentrations of the nonfermentable analogue D-2-deoxyglucose (2-deoxyG) blocked the growth of S mutans in broth media containing various fermentable sugars. Acid production by S mutans from both exogenous glucose and intracellular storage polysaccharide was inhibited by 2-deoxyG. The analogue is bacteriostatic, and large quantities of intracellular 2-deoxyG-6-PO₄ accumulate during exposure of S mutans to the sugar.