Probiotics are known to benefit human health through improving the gut environment. This study aimed to investigate whether Streptococcus salivarius (S. salivarius) G7 exhibits probiotic properties and evaluated its effectiveness and suitability for oral health applications. Whole-genome sequencing of S. salivarius was performed using Novo assembly and bioinformatics analysis. To determine probiotic suitability, the required metabolic profiles were obtained through performing a hemolysis test, antibiotic susceptibility test, D-lactate production assay, and cytotoxicity assay according to the methods recommended in World Health Organization guidelines. To investigate the oral health impacts of S. salivarius, the acidogenicity and antimicrobial activity of S. salivarius were investigated. Finally, oral biofilms treated and untreated with S. salivarius were investigated. The phylogenetic and bioinformatic analyses confirmed the taxonomic identity of S. salivarius. Also, it has been proven that this bacterium carries no virulence factors or transmissible antibiotic resistance genes. S. salivarius G7 exhibited low antibiotic resistance, cytotoxicity, and acidogenicity, while also displaying antimicrobial activity against oral disease-related bacteria, and was able to maintain eubiosis in oral biofilms. S. salivarius G7 met all the safety assessment criteria required by current probiotic guidelines and exhibited beneficial properties for oral health. Therefore, this strain may represent a safe and promising probiotic candidate for oral health applications.
Chang et al. (Sat,) studied this question.