title: Diverse Human Skin Fungal Communities in Children Converge in Adulthood.
abstract: Understanding the skin mycobiome (fungal communities) is important because both commensal and pathogenic fungi can drive cutaneous disease depending on host status and body sites, including the scalp, feet, and groin. Interestingly, age may also affect skin fungal infections as certain dermatophytoses (i.e., tinea capitis) are more frequent in children than adults. We previously described the skin mycobiomes in healthy adults, showing lipophilic fungi Malassezia predominate in most skin sites. Because children have less sebaceous skin before puberty, we compared the fungal communities of primary clinical samples from healthy children and adults, based on sequencing of a fungal phylogenetic marker. Although Malassezia predominated on the trunk, head, and arm skin of adults (age 18-39), children (age < 14) had more diverse fungal communities, for example, Eurotiomycetes, which includes common dermatophytes. Species-level classification showed that Malassezia globosa predominated in children. Collectively, our findings indicate that prepubertal skin is colonized by diverse fungi, whereas adult skin is predominantly obligatory lipophilic Malassezia, suggesting that fungal communities on skin profoundly shift during puberty. Mycobiome shifts during puberty are likely due to alterations in sebaceous gland activation and sebum composition. This study provides a foundational framework for studies investigating interactions between fungi, skin, and pediatric dermatophytosis.
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Jay-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.affiliation: Microbial Genomics Section, Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Clay
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deming
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.affiliation: Microbial Genomics Section, Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Conlan
authors.affiliation: Biometric Research Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Eric C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Polley
authors.affiliation: Microbial Genomics Section, Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Weng-Ian
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: NIH Intramural Sequencing Center, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.affiliation: Microbial Genomics Section, Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Electronic address: jsegre@nhgri.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Julia A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Segre
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Electronic address: konghe@mail.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Heidi H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003881:Dermatomycoses / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008290:Malassezia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008297:Male; D064307:Microbiota; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012627:Sebaceous Glands / Q000378:metabolism; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology*; D055815:Young Adult