Abiotic and biotic effectors of colonisation in the skin microbiome

Human skin is a complex ecosystem colonised by diverse bacterial and fungal genera and the communities that establish long term on skin are influenced by many host and environmental factors, including body site, gender, age and drugs. Skin microbiota contribute to health and disease and via their interactions they produce barrier functions against pathogens. There are over a dozen Staphylococcus species on human skin that have different distributions and frequencies from evolved speciation and niche specialisation. Staphylococci are associated with communities that are routinely altered with personal care products for body odour, dandruff and other skin conditions.
Success of the skin-colonising staphylococci is only partially understood, particularly their relationship with other species and competition for nutrients. The range of biotic and abiotic effectors of species success in their niche have only been partly explored and in vivo contributions remain to be fully characterised. In this studentship, we will investigate abiotic and biotic effectors that stabilise/destabilise microbial communities of the skin 'core' microbiome with particular focus on mechanisms that promote Staphylococcus success and its competitive relationship with other species and skin-relevant molecules. Using genomics and metabolomics approaches we will investigate factors that stabilise and destabilise community interactions to provide novel insights of species success.