title: Cutaneous microbiome studies in the times of affordable sequencing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Skin is our first line of defense against pathogenic microorganisms and the intimate contact between the epidermis and microbes has been well known.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Microbes that cause infection are associated with inflammatory dermatoses and exacerbate wound healing. It is therefore of vital importance to understand the intricacies of skin-microbiota interactions. However, until recently our knowledge and understanding was limited by being unable to deal with uncultivatable microorganisms, which constitute a large majority.
  
  
  METHODS
  Recent advances in DNA sequencing methodologies, analysis tools and affordability led to major breakthroughs in defining the cutaneous microbiome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We now know that four phyla, Actinobacteria, Firmicytes, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, constitute preponderance of skin bacteria, while Malassezia dominates the fungal microbiome. We know that there are some 300 different bacteria inhabiting our skin. We also know that there is remarkable interpersonal variation, that the microbiota change over time, that different body sites harbor specific microbial arrays and that microbiota characteristically change in skin diseases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The recent advances led to appreciation that microbes are, for the most part, our allies, useful and protective, and that with increased understanding we will be able to harness our cutaneous friends to maintain and promote our health.
authors.affiliation: Wound Healing and Regenerative Medicine Research Program, Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery and Hussman Institute of Human Genomics, University of Miami Miller Medical School, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Marjana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomic-Canic
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; Department of Microbiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Guillermo I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Perez-Perez
authors.affiliation: The R.O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Cancer Institute, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: Miroslav.Blumenberg@nyumc.org.
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blumenberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics*; D003881:Dermatomycoses / Q000382:microbiology; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D064307:Microbiota; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology*; D017192:Skin Diseases, Bacterial / Q000382:microbiology; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004271:DNA, Fungal
keywords: 16S RNA; Atopic dermatitis; Bacteria; Fungi; Next generation sequencing; Wound healing