The Application of Culturomics to Explore African Skin Microbiota

Codou Ndiaye UMR VITROME, Campus International IRD-UCAD de l’IRD de Hann, Dakar, Senegal;

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Hubert Bassene UMR VITROME, Campus International IRD-UCAD de l’IRD de Hann, Dakar, Senegal;

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Maxime Descartes Mbogning Fonkou Aix Marseille Université, IRD, AP-HM, Microbes Evolution Phylogeny and Infections (MEPHI), IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France;

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Florence Fenollar Aix-Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, IHU-Méditerranée Infection, UMR Vecteurs-Infections Tropicales et Méditerranéennes (VITROME), Marseille, France

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Jean Christophe Lagier Aix Marseille Université, IRD, AP-HM, Microbes Evolution Phylogeny and Infections (MEPHI), IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France;

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Didier Raoult Aix Marseille Université, IRD, AP-HM, Microbes Evolution Phylogeny and Infections (MEPHI), IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France;

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Cheikh Sokhna UMR VITROME, Campus International IRD-UCAD de l’IRD de Hann, Dakar, Senegal;
Aix-Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, IHU-Méditerranée Infection, UMR Vecteurs-Infections Tropicales et Méditerranéennes (VITROME), Marseille, France

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ABSTRACT.

Over the past 12 years, culturomics, a high-throughput culture method, has been developed, considerably widening the repertoire of known cultured bacteria. An exhaustive database, including a list of microbes isolated by culture from human skin, was recently established by performing a review of the literature. The aim of the present study was to use the culturomics approach to explore the African skin microbiota. Skin swabs from the palms of human hands were collected between January and December 2016 from healthy subjects from the villages of Dielmo and Ndiop in rural Senegal. Three culture media were selected for the isolation of bacteria in aerobic conditions. Bacterial colonies were subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectroscopy and the 16 S rRNA gene was sequenced for unidentified colonies. A total of 176 bacterial species were isolated. This increased the repertoire of bacterial species on the skin by 14.0%, by adding 71 bacteria, including seven new species. The culturomics approach characterizing microbial diversity has significantly changed our view of the skin microbiota, raising many important questions about the host-microorganism relationship and its relevance to skin diseases. In particular, the difference between the palm microbiota of these African populations (composed mainly of the genera Staphylococcus, Arthrobacter, Bacillus, and Microbacterium) and that of Western populations, whose main genera are Staphylococcus, Propionibacterium, Micrococcus, Corynebacterium, Enhydrobacter, and Streptococcus. This study demonstrates the need to continue to explore the skin microbiome using the culturomics approach

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Author Notes

Authors’ contributions: Conceptualization: D. Raoult. Data curation: C. Ndiaye, H. Bassene, M. D. M. Fonkou. Formal analysis: C. Ndiaye, H. Bassene. Funding acquisition: D. Raoult. Investigation: C. Ndiaye, H. Bassene. Methodology: H. Bassene, J. C. Lagier, C. Sokhna. Project administration: H. Bassene. Software: C. Ndiaye, M. D. M. Fonkou. Supervision: C. Ndiaye, H. Bassene. Validation: D. Raoult. Writing—original draft: C. Ndiaye, H. Bassene, M. D. M. Fonkou. Writing—review and editing: H. Bassene, J. C. Lagier, F. Fenollar, C. Sokhna, D. Raoult.

Financial support: This work has benefited from support from the French State, managed by the Agence Nationale pour la Recherche, including the “Programme d’Investissement d’avenir” under reference Méditerranée Infection 10-IAHU-03.

Disclosure: Before inclusion in the study, written informed consent was required from all adult participants (≥18 years) and from parents or legal guardians of minors (<18 years). An information document clearly explaining the risks and benefits associated with participation in the study was given to each patient. This document set out the reasons and purpose of the sampling, in the presence of a parent/legal tutor. The consent form stipulated that samples would not be used in the future in other studies not related to the present study without prior agreement from the participant and the Senegalese Ethics Committee. The study was approved by the Senegalese Ethics Committee (No. 53/MSAS/DPRS/CNERS of 31 March 2015), and consent was obtained from each individual.

Current contact information: Codou Ndiaye, Maxime Descartes Mbogning Fonkou, Jean Christophe Lagier, and Didier Raoult, IRD, AP-HM, Microbes Evolution Phylogeny and Infections (MEPHI), IHU-Mediterranée Infection, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France, E-mails: codoundiaye134@yahoo.fr, dmbogning15@gmail.com, jclagier@yahoo.fr, and didier.raoult@gmail.com. Hubert Bassene, EMR MINES, Campus Commun UCAD-IRD de Hann, IRD, Dakar 1386, Senegal, E-mail: hubert.bassene@ird.fr. Florence Fenollar, IHU-Méditerranée Infection, 19-21 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France; Campus Santé Timone, Aix Marseille University, AP-HM, SSA, RITMES, 13005 Marseille, France, E-mail: florence.fenollar@univ-amu.fr. Cheikh Sokhna, EMR MINES, Campus Commun UCAD-IRD de Hann, IRD, Dakar 1386, Senegal; Campus Santé Timone, Aix Marseille University, AP-HM, SSA, RITMES, 13005 Marseille, France, E-mail: cheikh.sokhna@ird.fr.

Address correspondence to Hubert Bassene, UMR VITROME, Campus International IRD-UCAD de Hann, Route des Pères Maristes, BP 1386 CP 18524, Dakar, Senegal. E-mail: hubert.bassene@ird.fr
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