Topographic diversity of fungal and bacterial communities in human skin - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2013 Jun 20;498(7454):367-70.

doi: 10.1038/nature12171. Epub 2013 May 22.

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Topographic diversity of fungal and bacterial communities in human skin

Keisha Findley et al. Nature. 2013.

Abstract

Traditional culture-based methods have incompletely defined the microbial landscape of common recalcitrant human fungal skin diseases, including athlete's foot and toenail infections. Skin protects humans from invasion by pathogenic microorganisms and provides a home for diverse commensal microbiota. Bacterial genomic sequence data have generated novel hypotheses about species and community structures underlying human disorders. However, microbial diversity is not limited to bacteria; microorganisms such as fungi also have major roles in microbial community stability, human health and disease. Genomic methodologies to identify fungal species and communities have been limited compared with those that are available for bacteria. Fungal evolution can be reconstructed with phylogenetic markers, including ribosomal RNA gene regions and other highly conserved genes. Here we sequenced and analysed fungal communities of 14 skin sites in 10 healthy adults. Eleven core-body and arm sites were dominated by fungi of the genus Malassezia, with only species-level classifications revealing fungal-community composition differences between sites. By contrast, three foot sites--plantar heel, toenail and toe web--showed high fungal diversity. Concurrent analysis of bacterial and fungal communities demonstrated that physiologic attributes and topography of skin differentially shape these two microbial communities. These results provide a framework for future investigation of the contribution of interactions between pathogenic and commensal fungal and bacterial communities to the maintainenace of human health and to disease pathogenesis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1. Relative abundance of fungal genera and Malassezia species of human skin sites

Fungal diversity of individual body sites of healthy volunteers (HV) was taxonomically classified at the genus level with further resolution of Malassezia species. Note: Left side is shown for all body sites except HV7’s right toenail.

Figure 2

Figure 2. Median richness of fungal and bacterial genera

Median taxonomic richness (or number of observed genera) of fungal and bacterial genera at 14 body sites. Error bars represent the median absolute deviation.

Figure 3

Figure 3. Forces shaping fungal and bacterial communities

Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) of degree of fungal and bacterial community similarity at 14 body sites, based on predominant genera and species. Variation in fungal communities segregated strongly along site location, with feet, head, and torso sites forming discrete groups (A). Bacterial community structure was more dependent on site physiology (B). Axes that most significantly contribute to variation and their relative length are defined in Figure S10 legend. For fungi, M. restricta (i; ρ = 0.92) and M. globosa (a; ρ = −0.79) are primary and opposing drivers of variation. For bacteria, Propionibacterium (j; ρ = 0.95) contributes to sebaceous site variation, while Corynebacterium (l; ρ = −0.74), and Turicella (q; ρ = −0.56) contribute most heavily for moist sites.

Figure 4

Figure 4. Clinical involvement alters shared fungal community structure

Community structure measures the type and relative abundance of each genus. A value of 1 implies identical community structure and 0 implies dissimilar structures. Amongst uninvolved feet sites, community structure is fairly consistent at plantar heel, toenail and toeweb. For involved sites, plantar heel has much greater shared community structure and toenails have much lower shared community structure. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean.

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