Abstract
The human scalp harbors a vast community of microbial mutualists, the composition of which is difficult to elucidate as many of the microorganisms are not culturable using current culture techniques. Dandruff, a common scalp disorder, is known as a causative factor of a mild seborrheic dermatitis as well as pityriasis versicolor, seborrheic dermatitis, and atopic dermatitis. Lipophilic yeast Malassezia is widely accepted to play a role in dandruff, but relatively few comprehensive studies have been reported. In order to investigate fungal biota and genetic resources of dandruff, we amplified the 26S rRNA gene from samples of healthy scalps and dandruff-afflicted scalps. The sequences were analyzed by a high throughput method using a GS-FLX 454 pyrosequencer. Of the 74,811 total sequence reads, Basidiomycota (Filobasidium spp.) was the most common phylum associated with dandruff. In contrast, Ascomycota (Acremonium spp.) was common in the healthy scalps. Our results elucidate the distribution of fungal communities associated with dandruff and provide new avenues for the potential prevention and treatment of dandruff.
Highlights
IntroductionDandruff is a noninflammatory condition of the scalp that is characterized by scaling and is considered to be a form of mild seborrheic dermatitis
Unlike classical seborrhoeic dermatitis, dandruff is a noninflammatory condition of the scalp that is characterized by scaling and is considered to be a form of mild seborrheic dermatitis
We investigated the fungal communities of healthy and dandruff-afflicted human scalps using the GS-FLX Titanium sequencer
Summary
Dandruff is a noninflammatory condition of the scalp that is characterized by scaling and is considered to be a form of mild seborrheic dermatitis. Dandruff is a common scalp disorder affecting almost half of the postpubertal population regardless of ethnicity and gender and has several putative causes including non-microbial and microbial factors [1,2,3]. The potential non-microbial causes for dandruff are excessive exposure to sunlight, minimal irritation of the scalp due to over shampooing, frequent combing, use of certain cosmetic products, and exposure to dust and dirt, experimental evidence is lacking[1,4,5]. The scalp has a biotic community of which the known components are Staphylococcus spp., Propionibacterium spp., and Malassezia spp. Malassezia species are known as a causative factor in pityriasis versicolor, seborrheic dermatitis (SD), and atopic dermatitis (AD) [9,10]. Some of the Malassezia species (M. furfur, M gobosa, and M. restricta) are associated with various human infections but the pathological role of each species is not fully understood [10,11,12,13]
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