Introduction. Human skin microbial communities represent a tremendous source of genetic diversity that evolves as a function of human age. Microbiota differs between regions of oily and moist skin, and appears to stabilize with age.Aim. We have a minimal understanding of the time frame required for the stabilization of skin microbiota, and the role played by gender. In the current study, we examined the microbiota present in the navel region of college-attending young adults in the age group of 18-25 years and investigated if diversity is associated with gender (male and female).Method. The study involved 16 female and six male subjects. Isolated DNA samples from navel swabs were processed using the Nextera XT library preparation kit and sequenced using the MiSeq platform. Data were analysed using QIIME and statistical analysis performed in R.Results. Microbiota of navel skin is dominated by Corynebacterium and Staphylococcus and includes opportunistic pathogens like Clostridium and Pseudomonas. Also present as the major component of the flora were the organisms normally associated with the gastrointestinal tract such as Acinetobacter, Campylobacter, Klebsiella and organisms from the Enterobacteriaceae and Moraxellaceae families. Comparison of alpha and beta diversity of the microbiota in the male and female navel regions suggests that the flora is not statistically different (P>0.05). However, pairwise comparison suggests that the abundance of 12 specific genera varied with gender, including higher abundance of Klebsiella and Enterobacter in females.Conclusion. Our findings indicate that the navel skin microbiota of young adults has a core microbiota of Corynebacterium and Staphylococcus. We also noted the presence of a significant number of opportunistic pathogens. A minor gender difference in the abundance of individual organisms was also observed.

中文翻译：

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年轻人肚脐微生物组的多样性。

介绍。人类皮肤微生物群落代表着遗传多样性的巨大来源，遗传多样性随着人类年龄的增长而发展。油性皮肤和湿性皮肤区域之间的微生物群不同，并且随着年龄的增长而趋于稳定。我们对稳定皮肤微生物群所需的时间框架以及性别扮演的角色知之甚少。在当前的研究中，我们检查了18-25岁年龄段的上大学的年轻人肚脐区域中的微生物群，并调查了多样性是否与性别（男性和女性）相关联。该研究涉及16位女性和6位男性。使用Nextera XT文库制备试剂盒处理来自肚脐拭子的分离DNA样品，并使用MiSeq平台进行测序。使用QIIME分析数据，并在R中进行统计分析。结果。肚脐皮肤的微生物群主要由棒状杆菌和葡萄球菌组成，并包括梭状芽孢杆菌和假单胞菌等机会病原体。作为菌群的主要成分，通常还存在与胃肠道相关的生物，例如不动杆菌，弯曲杆菌，克雷伯菌以及来自肠杆菌科和莫拉氏菌科的生物。比较男性和女性肚脐区域中微生物群的α和β多样性，表明菌群没有统计学差异（P> 0.05）。然而，成对比较表明12个特定属的丰度随性别而变化，其中雌性克雷伯菌和肠杆菌的丰度更高。我们的发现表明，年轻人的肚脐皮肤微生物群具有棒状杆菌和葡萄球菌的核心微生物群。我们还注意到存在大量机会病原体。在单个生物的丰度上也观察到微小的性别差异。