{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T14:28:16Z","timestamp":1785421696684,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,30]],"date-time":"2026-03-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774828800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004826","name":"Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["L246030"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["L246030"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004826","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"the King\u2019s College London-Peking University Health Science Center Joint Institute for Medical Research","award":["BMU2026JIKCL003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BMU2026JIKCL003"]}]},{"award":["BMU2026JIKCL003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BMU2026JIKCL003"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0220mzb33","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["32530007"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32530007"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["32530007"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32530007"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2021YFC2301000"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021YFC2301000"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Youth Research Fund of Peking University School of Stomatology","award":["PKUSS20240112"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PKUSS20240112"]}]},{"award":["PKUSS20240112"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PKUSS20240112"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02v51f717","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Streptococcus mutans is a primary contributor to dental caries due to its ability to form biofilms rich in extracellular polysaccharides (EPS). While erythritol has been recognized for its anti-cariogenic effects, the molecular pathways involved have remained unclear. In this study, we combined phenotypic and transcriptomic approaches to uncover the mechanism by which erythritol inhibits EPS synthesis. We found that erythritol treatment significantly reduces EPS production and biofilm density, and that these changes are accompanied by marked downregulation of the phosphotransferase system (PTS), particularly the celB gene. Functional validation through gene deletion demonstrated that loss of celB mimics the effects of erythritol, resulting in reduced bacterial growth, impaired biofilm formation and decreased EPS production. Our results establish celB as a key mediator of erythritol-induced biofilm inhibition and suggest that targeting carbohydrate transport systems could offer a novel approach to caries prevention.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms14040782","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,30]],"date-time":"2026-03-30T13:41:53Z","timestamp":1774878113000},"page":"782","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The CelB Gene Mediates Erythritol-Induced Inhibition of Exopolysaccharide Synthesis in Streptococcus mutans"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0066-7732","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yang","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"},{"name":"National Center for Stomatology, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"},{"name":"National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"},{"name":"National Engineering Research Center of Oral Biomaterials and Digital Medical Devices, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"},{"name":"Beijing Key Laboratory of Digital Stomatology, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"},{"name":"NHC Key Laboratory of Digital Stomatology, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuwei","family":"Gu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1795-2791","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Junxin","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Second Clinical Division, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dongmei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Second Clinical Division, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5291-9826","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yixiang","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"},{"name":"Central Laboratory, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.1038\/s41368-021-00137-1","article-title":"Molecular Mechanisms of Inhibiting Glucosyltransferases for Biofilm Formation in Streptococcus Mutans","volume":"13","author":"Zhang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. 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