Hi pals,could you please help me with this question? What are the factors that dictating number and variety of microorganisms on the skin. 8 marks
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Answer:
hm karde help is question m....
Skin pH (normal is slightly acidic at ~pH 5)
Moisture.
Temperature.
Oxygen:carbon dioxide ratio.
Sun exposure: ultraviolet radiation (UVR) damages microorganism DNA.
Interactions with other microorganisms.
Innate host defenses..
The skin is the human body’s largest organ, colonized by a diverse milieu of microorganisms, most of which are harmless or even beneficial to their host. Colonization is driven by the ecology of the skin surface, which is highly variable depending on topographical location, endogenous host factors and exogenous environmental factors. The cutaneous innate and adaptive immune responses can modulate the skin microbiota, but the microbiota also functions in educating the immune system. The development of molecular methods to identify microorganisms has led to an emerging view of the resident skin bacteria as highly diverse and variable. An enhanced understanding of the skin microbiome is necessary to gain insight into microbial involvement in human skin disorders and to enable novel promicrobial and antimicrobial therapeutic approaches for their treatment.
The skin is an ecosystem composed of 1.8 m2 of diverse habitats with an abundance of folds, invaginations and specialized niches that support a wide range of microorganisms. The primary role of the skin is to serve as a physical barrier, protecting our bodies from potential assault by foreign organisms or toxic substances. The skin is also an interface with the outside environment and, as such, is colonized by a diverse collection of microorganisms — including bacteria, fungi and viruses — as well as mites1–7. As we describe, many of these microorganisms are harmless and in some cases provide vital functions that the human genome has not evolved. Symbiotic microorganisms occupy a wide range of skin niches and protect against invasion by more pathogenic or harmful organisms. These microorganisms may also have a role in educating the billions of T cells that are found in the skin, priming them to respond to similarly marked pathogenic cousins.