The Effect of Essential Oils and Bioactive Fractions on Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans Biofilms: A Confocal Analysis

Figure 1

2D confocal imaging: a qualitative analysis. Confocal image stacks of 72-h S. mutans UA 159 biofilms following topical treatment with (a) A. gratissima: fraction Ag₄; (b) B. dracunculifolia: fraction Bd₂; (c) C. sativum: fraction Cs₄; (d) L. sidoides: fraction Ls₃; and (e) vehicle (propylene glycol, 6.25% v/v). The structures depicted in red (Dextran, Alexa Fluor 6) represent the extracellular polysaccharides that constitute the biofilm matrix, while the structures depicted in green (Syto 9) are metabolically active bacterial cells (optical magnitude 63x). It can be noted that all bioactive fractions ((a)–(d)) affected the EPS matrix making it less intimately interspersed between and over the cells than did the vehicle alone (e).

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