{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T12:02:32Z","timestamp":1791460952136,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,26]],"date-time":"2024-03-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1711411200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The Gram-positive bacterium, <jats:italic>Filifactor alocis<\/jats:italic> is an oral pathogen, and approximately 50% of known strains encode a recently identified repeat-in-toxin (RTX) protein, FtxA. By assessing a longitudinal Ghanaian study population of adolescents (10-19 years of age; mean age 13.2 years), we recently discovered a possible correlation between deep periodontal pockets measured at the two-year follow-up, presence of the <jats:italic>ftxA<\/jats:italic> gene, and a high quantity of <jats:italic>F. alocis<\/jats:italic>. To further understand the contribution of <jats:italic>F. alocis<\/jats:italic> and FtxA in periodontal disease, we used qPCR in the present study to assess the carriage loads of <jats:italic>F. alocis<\/jats:italic> and the prevalence of its <jats:italic>ftxA<\/jats:italic> gene in subgingival plaque specimens, sampled at baseline from the Ghanaian cohort (n=500). Comparing these results with the recorded clinical attachment loss (CAL) longitudinal progression data from the two-year follow up, we concluded that carriers of <jats:italic>ftxA<\/jats:italic>-positive <jats:italic>F. alocis<\/jats:italic> typically exhibited higher loads of the bacterium. Moreover, high carriage loads of <jats:italic>F. alocis<\/jats:italic> and concomitant presence of the <jats:italic>ftxA<\/jats:italic> gene were two factors that were both associated with an enhanced prevalence of CAL progression. Interestingly, CAL progression appeared to be further promoted upon the simultaneous presence of <jats:italic>F. alocis<\/jats:italic> and the non-JP2 genotype of <jats:italic>Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic>. Taken together, our present findings are consistent with the notion that <jats:italic>F. alocis<\/jats:italic> and its <jats:italic>ftxA<\/jats:italic> gene promotes CAL during periodontal disease.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2024.1376358","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,26]],"date-time":"2024-03-26T04:23:41Z","timestamp":1711427021000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Association of Filifactor alocis and its RTX toxin gene ftxA with periodontal attachment loss, and in synergy with Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Zeinab","family":"Razooqi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ingeborg","family":"Tjellstr\u00f6m","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carola","family":"H\u00f6glund \u00c5berg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francis","family":"Kwamin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rolf","family":"Claesson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dorte","family":"Haubek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anders","family":"Johansson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jan","family":"Oscarsson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"725","DOI":"10.1177\/0022034514538283","article-title":"Filifactor alocis: the newly discovered kid on the block with special talents","volume":"93","author":"Aruni","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. 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