Porphyromonas gingivalis

Porphyromonas gingivalis belongs to the phylum Bacteroidetes and is a nonmotile, Gram-negative, rod-shaped, anaerobic, pathogenic bacterium. It forms black colonies on blood agar.

It is found in the oral cavity, where it is implicated in certain forms of periodontal disease, as well as in the upper gastrointestinal tract, the respiratory tract, and the colon. It has also been isolated from women with bacterial vaginosis. Collagen degradation observed in chronic periodontal disease results in part from the collagenase enzymes of this species. It has been shown in an in vitro study that P. gingivalis can invade human gingival fibroblasts and can survive in them in the presence of considerable concentrations of antibiotics. P. gingivalis also invades gingival epithelial cells in high numbers, in which cases both bacteria and epithelial cells survive for extended periods of time. High levels of specific antibodies can be detected in patients harboring P. gingivalis.