Characterization of Streptococcus sanguis Isolated from Patients with Behçet's Disease

The DNA homology and cell wall sugar constituents of eight Streptococcus sanguis(-like) strains, three isolated from the patients with Behçet's disease (BD114-23, BD113-20, BD118-1), two from patients with Kawasaki disease (MCLS-1, MCLS-2), and three type and reference strains of ATCC (ATCC10556T: S. sanguis, ATCC10557: S. oralis, and ATCC10558T: S. gordonii) were analyzed. Strains BD114-23 and BD118-1 showed high DNA homology to ATCC10556T, and their cell wall constituents were identical. Conversely, BD113-20, MCLS-1, MCLS-2, and ATCC10557 showed little DNA homology to ATCC10556T and ATCC10558T, but showed approximately 50 to 60% homology to each other. The cell wall constituents of BD113-20, MCLS-1, MCLS-2, and ATCC10557, however, were somewhat different, indicating that some of the clinical isolates have different characters from those of the three ATCC strains.