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closeHuman-associated Archaea- the role of Nitrososphaera?
Posted by chmoissl on 02 Jul 2013 at 11:23 GMT
Thank you very much for this very interesting article!
A few days ago our PLOS ONE manuscript "Archaea on human skin" (by Probst, Auerbach and Moissl-Eichinger) was published - and we also found "Nitrososphaera"-relatives to be associated with humans, in particular with human skin.
The independent finding of Thaumarchaeota being part of the human microbiome is certainly a very interesting result. Both studies obtained positive signals from amoA PCR-screening of the samples. However, the role of these Thaumarchaeota remains unclear, but one could speculate about a possible involvement in ammonia turnover on skin or in the gut.
We also stated, that previous studies on the human microbiome may have underestimated the presence and abundance of Thaumarchaeota in human samples - but it seems, specific and sensitive assays as they were used here and in our study, can help to detect the "hidden" Archaea.
I am very excited and I am looking forward to further research on human-associated Archaea!