Staphylococcus epidermidisenablesCutibacterium acnesto form biofilms under aerobic conditions

Abstract

ABSTRACTStaphylococcus epidermidisandCutibacterium acnesare among the most abundant members of the human skin microbiome. Both species are associated with skin health and disease. Although skin microbes typically grow in surface-associated biofilms, few studies on the interaction betweenS. epidermidisandC. acnesin biofilms have been reported. In the present study we measured the ability ofS. epidermidisandC. acnes, either individually or jointly, to form biofilms in glass culture tubes. SinceS. epidermidisis a facultative anaerobe andC. acnesis an aerotolerant anaerobe, tubes were incubated both aerobically and anaerobically to assess the role of atmosphere in biofilm forma4on. When cultured individually, we found thatS. epidermidisformed biofilms under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, whereasC. acnesformed biofilms only under aerobic conditions. When co-cultured, the presence ofC. acneshad no effect onS. epidermidisbiofilm formation under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions. However, the presence ofS. epidermidissignificantly enhanced the growth ofC. acnesbiofilms under anaerobic conditions and enabledC. acnesto form biofilms under aerobic condi2ons. This finding may be clinically relevant to the interaction betweenS. epidermidisandC. acneson human skin.