Researchers Identify New Bacteria and Viruses on Human Skin via European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Researchers at EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), the NIH National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and colleagues have identified new bacterial and fungal species, as well as viruses in the human skin microbiome.

Microbiomes—communities of microorganisms—are found everywhere, from the oceans and soil to the human gut and the surface of the skin. The skin microbiome is thought to play a key role in skin health and disease. Certain microorganisms in the skin microbiome are associated with different skin conditions, including acne and eczema.

In this study, published in Nature Microbiology, the researchers sequenced the genomes of the microorganisms detected within 594 samples taken from various skin surfaces of 12 healthy volunteers. Combining traditional laboratory cultivation with a metagenomic sequencing approach, the researchers were able to create the Skin Microbial Genome Collection (SMGC)—a collection of reference genomes for the human skin microbiome.

Diversity in our skin microbiome

“We discovered thousands of viral sequences including many jumbo phages—very big viruses that infect bacteria—most commonly on the surface of the hands and feet of our volunteers,” said Sara Kashaf, Ph.D. student at the NIH and EMBL-EBI. “These areas of the body have highly diverse microbiomes, which makes sense because we’re constantly using our hands to touch new things in our environment. Our future work will aim to understand what these different microbes are doing within these communities.”