人类体表和肠道是无数微生物的居所。据11月5日的《科学》杂志报道说，最近对人的整个身体所进行的多元微生物群落的分析结果将最终揭示这些群落的变化将如何引起（或防止）疾病的发生。
Elizabeth Costello及其同僚对多达27个身体部位的微生物进行了调查，其中包括肠道、口腔、耳朵、鼻子以及多达18个区域的皮肤表面。这些调查的部位是在4个不同的场合取自一些健康的成人。 他们的基于先前发表在《科学》杂志上的发现揭示，身体的部位对居留在那里的微生物群落的组成具有最大的影响，其影响远远大于时间的推移或个体之间的差异。
研究人员还发现，某些皮肤部位，如食指或膝盖的背侧常常比肠道或口腔能容留更为多元的微生物。 他们的数据所强调的事实是，我们身体的个体化的微生物随着时间的推移仍然保持着相对的稳定，而且它们展现了在我们身体各个位置生长的可预测的模式。 在接下来的实验中，研究人员将身体某一部位的微生物群落移植到身体的另外一个部位，或从某人身上移植到另外一个人身上。他们发现，环境因素在油脂分泌多的皮肤部位比在皮肤干燥的部位对塑造微生物群落的影响力要更强。 例如，前臂的微生物在前额上的生长就不甚好，但前额的微生物在前臂上的生长则依然很好。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Science November 5, 2009 DOI: 10.1126/science.1177486
Bacterial Community Variation in Human Body Habitats Across Space and Time
Elizabeth K. Costello 1, Christian L. Lauber 2, Micah Hamady 3, Noah Fierer 4, Jeffrey I. Gordon 5, Rob Knight 1*
1 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
2 Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
3 Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
4 Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
5 Center for Genome Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA.
Elucidating the biogeography of bacterial communities on the human body is critical for establishing healthy baselines from which to detect differences associated with diseases. To obtain an integrated view of the spatial and temporal distribution of the human microbiota, we surveyed bacteria from up to 27 sites in 7 to 9 healthy adults on four occasions. We found that community composition was determined primarily by body habitat. Within habitats, interpersonal variability was high, while individuals exhibited minimal temporal variability. Several skin locations harbored more diverse communities than the gut and mouth, and skin locations differed in their community assembly patterns. These results indicate that our microbiota, although personalized, varies systematically across body habitats and time: Such trends may ultimately reveal how microbiome changes cause or prevent disease.
