Topographical and physiological differences of the skin mycobiome in health and disease

Abstract

Skin constantly encounters external elements, including microbes. Culture-based studies have identified fungi present on human skin and have linked some species with certain skin diseases. Moreover, modern medical treatments, especially immunosuppressants, have increased the population at risk for cutaneous and invasive fungal infections, emphasizing the need to understand skin fungal communities in health and disease. A major hurdle for studying fungal flora at a community level has been the heterogeneous culture conditions required by skin fungi. Recent advances in DNA sequencing technologies have dramatically expanded our knowledge of the skin microbiome through culture-free methods. This review discusses historical and recent research on skin fungal communities - the mycobiome - in health and disease, and challenges associated with sequencing-based mycobiome research.

Keywords: Malassezia; fungal community; mycobiome; skin.

Figure 1.

Composition of skin fungal communities distributed over various skin sites and in different age groups. Phylum- and genus-level classification of fungi colonizing skin of healthy adults (left, age 18–39 years) and children (right, age 8–13 years). Data adapted from Ref..