Bacterial DNA on the skin surface overrepresents the viable skin microbiome
E. M. Acosta, K. A. Little, B. P. Bratton, J. G. Lopez, X. Mao, A. S. Payne, M. S. Donia, D. Devenport, Z. Gitai
This study shows that viable bacteria in the skin microbiome are mainly in hair follicles, not on the skin surface, and that surface DNA mostly comes from dead cells.
bioRxiv · Aug 16, 2021Microbiology