THE BACTERIAL FINGERPRINT OF THE ARMPIT AND ITS VARIATION IN TIME

摘要

The human axillae covers eccrine, apocrine, sebaceous and, from puberty on, also apoeccrine glands, accordingly provides warm, moist and nutritional rich conditions for microorganisms, sustaining one of the highest densities of microorganisms on the body. Before the arrival of the DNA-based techniques, research was only possible based on selective agar plating. Nowadays, the microbial community of the human axilla can be characterized in a considerable better way. By using high-throughput DNA sequencing methods, this research can be lifted to a whole new level. The purpose of this research is to describe the axillary microbial community and its dynamics by means of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and pyrosequenc-ing. Samples were taken from 48 test subjects in order to identify the axillary microbiota of the human population. Additionally, a group of 17 persons are sampled in time to check the dynamics of the microbiota.