Skin flora

The skin flora, more properly referred to as are the microorganisms which reside on the skin. Most research has been upon those that reside upon the 2 square metres of human skin, cf. the human microbiome. The skin microbiome refer to their genomes.

Many of them are bacteria of which there are around 1000 species upon human skin from 19 phyla. Most are found in the superficial layers of the epidermis and the upper parts of hair follicles.

Skin flora is usually non-pathogenic, and either commensal (are not harmful to their host) or mutualistic (offer a benefit). The benefits bacteria can offer include preventing transient pathogenic organisms from colonizing the skin surface, either by competing for nutrients, secreting chemicals against them, or stimulating the skin's immune system. However, resident microbes can cause skin diseases and enter the blood system, creating life-threatening diseases, particularly in immunosuppressed people.

A major non-human skin flora is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a chytrid and non-hyphal zoosporic fungus that causes chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease thought to be responsible for the decline in amphibian populations.

The estimate of the number of species present on skin bacteria has been radically changed by the use of 16S ribosomal RNA to identify bacterial species present on skin samples direct from their genetic material. Previously such identification had depended upon microbiological culture upon which many varieties of bacteria did not grow and so were hidden to science.

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