Ecologists have long recognized the importance of spatial scale in understanding structure‐function relationships among communities of organisms within their environment. Here, we review historical and contemporary studies of dental plaque community structure in the context of three distinct scales: the micro (1‐10 µm), meso (10‐100 µm) and macroscale (100 µm to ≥1 cm). Within this framework, we analyze the compositional nature of dental plaque at the macroscale, the molecular interactions of microbes at the microscale, and the emergent properties of dental plaque biofilms at the mesoscale. Throughout our analysis of dental plaque across spatial scales, we draw attention to disease and health‐associated structure‐function relationships and include a discussion of host immune involvement in the mesoscale structure of periodontal disease–associated biofilms. We end with a discussion of two filamentous organisms, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Corynebacterium matruchotii, and their relevant contributions in structuring dental plaque biofilms.

中文翻译：

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牙菌斑微生物组分析的空间尺度

生态学家早就认识到空间尺度对于理解其环境中生物群落之间的结构-功能关系的重要性。在这里，我们回顾了三个不同尺度背景下牙菌斑群落结构的历史和当代研究：微观（1-10 µm）、中观（10-100 µm）和宏观尺度（100 µm 至≥1 cm）。在此框架内，我们在宏观尺度上分析了牙菌斑的组成性质，在微观尺度上分析了微生物的分子相互作用，在中尺度分析了牙菌斑生物膜的涌现特性。在我们跨空间尺度对牙菌斑的分析中，我们提请注意疾病和健康相关的结构-功能关系，并讨论宿主免疫参与牙周病相关生物膜的中尺度结构。我们以对两种丝状生物的讨论结束，具核梭杆菌和马氏棒状杆菌，以及它们在构建牙菌斑生物膜方面的相关贡献。