Biological changes of Enterococcus faecalis in the viable but nonculturable state
“Biological changes of Enterococcus faecalis in the viable but nonculturable state”, vol. 14, pp. 14790-14801, 2015.
, Enterococcus faecalis may enter a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state under adverse conditions. E. faecalis, the major bacterial species present in failed root canal treatments, is thought to survive after endodontic treatment by entering a VBNC state. In this study, we characterized the VBNC state of E. faecalis. We designed 3 different protocols to successfully induce the VBNC state. Approximately one-third of bacteria entered a VBNC state after 15-30 days, and all remained viable for at least 2 months.