Strains to go: interactions of the skin microbiome beyond its species.

Authors

Ryan Caldwell, The Jackson LaboratoryFollow
Wei Zhou, The Jackson LaboratoryFollow
Julia Oh, The Jackson LaboratoryFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2022

Publication Title

Current opinion in microbiology

Keywords

JGM, Humans, Microbiota, Bacteria, Skin, Biodiversity, Fungi

JAX Source

Curr Opin Microbiol. 2022;70:102222.

Volume

70

First Page

102222

ISSN

1879-0364

PMID

36242896

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2022.102222

Grant

JO is supported by the National Institutes of Health (1 R01 AR078634-01, DP2 GM126893-01, 1 U19 AI142733, 1 R21 AR075174, 1U54NS105539).

Abstract

An extraordinary biodiversity of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and even small multicellular eukaryota inhabit the human skin. Genomic innovations have accelerated characterization of this biodiversity both at a species as well as the subspecies, or strain level, which further imparts a tremendous genetic diversity to an individual's skin microbiome. In turn, these advances portend significant species- and strain-specificity in the skin microbiome's functional impact on cutaneous immunity, barrier integrity, aging, and other skin physiologic processes. Future advances in defining strain diversity, spatial distribution, and metabolic diversity for major skin species will be foundational for understanding the microbiome's essentiality to the skin ecosystem and for designing topical therapeutics that leverage or target the skin microbiome.

Recommended Citation

Caldwell R, Zhou W, Oh J. Strains to go: interactions of the skin microbiome beyond its species. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2022;70:102222.