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. 2016 Nov 23:2:3.
doi: 10.1038/s41522-016-0004-z. eCollection 2016.

Microbial biofilms and the human skin microbiome

Michael Brandwein  1   2 , Doron Steinberg  1 , Shiri Meshner  2
Affiliations

Microbial biofilms and the human skin microbiome

Michael Brandwein et al. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. .

Abstract

The human skin microbiome plays an important role in both health and disease. Microbial biofilms are a well-characterized mode of surface-associated growth, which present community-like behaviors. Additionally, biofilms are a critical element in certain skin diseases. We review how the perception of the resident skin microbiota has evolved from the early linkages of certain microbes to disease states, to a more comprehensive and intricate understanding brought on by biofilm and microbiome revelations. Rapidly expanding arsenals of experimental methods are opening new horizons in the study of human-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions. Microbial community profiling has largely remained a separate discipline from that of biofilm research, yet the introduction of metatranscriptomics, metabolomics, and the ability to distinguish between dormant and active members of a community have all paved the road toward a convergent cognizance of the encounter between these two microbial disciplines.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
AD flares are characterized by shifts in relative abundances of several bacterial species. a Abundance of the dominant skin bacterial phyla (Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes) and the family Staphylococcaceae (a Firmicute) associated with healthy skin. b AD induces dysbiosis characterized by a decrease in bacterial diversity and the dramatic increase in the proportion of Staphylococcaceae ,
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Relative P. acnes strain abundance in the nose pilosebaceous unit is different between acne patients and healthy individuals. a Normal relative abundance of dominant P. acnes strains in healthy individuals. b Acne-induced dysbiosis is characterized by a decrease in the relative abundance of P. acnes strains RT3 and RT6, and an increase in the relative abundance of strains RT4, RT5, RT7, RT8, RT9, and RT10. c The persistent nature of acne vulgaris and its ability to be only partially ameliorated through antibiotics can be due to pockets of biofilm-forming P. acnes strains located on various skin appendages, including on the skin surface, the sebaceous gland, the hair follicle, and the pore itself
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