Library · Biological system
The microbes that live on your skin
Make it clearer
Your skin is not empty. It is colonized by a diverse community of microorganisms, and the important part is that most of them do you no harm: they are harmless or even good for you.
What decides who lives where is not chance but the ecology of each site. The skin is a map with different climates: there are moist spots, dry spots and oily spots, which in medicine are called sebaceous. Each climate favors some residents and not others.
That is why the split is recognizable. In sebaceous areas a group called Propionibacterium is in charge, and these areas appear to have the least variety of species. In moist areas Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium are abundant.
And the relationship does not run one way only. The skin's immune response, meaning its defenses, shapes that microbiota, but the microbiota in turn educates the immune system. They are adjusting to each other all the time.
In brief
The skin is colonized by a diverse community of microorganisms, and most are harmless or even beneficial.
Who lives where is set by the ecology of each site: moist, dry or sebaceous microenvironments.
A map with different climates: moist, dry and oily zones.
Sebaceous sites are dominated by Propionibacterium and appear to have the lowest diversity; moist sites are rich in Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium.
The relationship runs both ways: the skin immune response shapes the microbiota, and the microbiota educates the immune system.
Sources (1)
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health (PubMed Central)The skin microbiome, Nature Reviews MicrobiologyPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated