Streptococcus mutans | |
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Stain of S. mutans in thioglycolate broth culture. | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Bacillota |
Class: | Bacilli |
Order: | Lactobacillales |
Family: | Streptococcaceae |
Genus: | Streptococcus |
Species: | S. mutans
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Binomial name | |
Streptococcus mutans Clarke 1924
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Streptococcus mutans is a facultatively anaerobic, gram-positive coccus (round bacterium) commonly found in the human oral cavity and is a significant contributor to tooth decay.[1][2] It is part of the "streptococci", an informal general name for all species in the genus Streptococcus. The microbe was first described by James Kilian Clarke in 1924.[3]
This bacterium, along with the closely related species Streptococcus sobrinus, can cohabit the mouth: Both contribute to oral disease, and the expense of differentiating them in laboratory testing is often not clinically necessary. Therefore, for clinical purposes they are often considered together as a group, called the mutans streptococci.[4] This grouping of similar bacteria with similar tropism can also be seen in the viridans streptococci, another group of Streptococcus species.