That plant you have on your desk? You are in relationship with it- well, microbially at least. Dr. Gwynne Mhuireach at BioBE is working to understand relationships between plant microbes and people.
Humans have always been close to the microbial communities in plants and soil until very recently, where the wave of urbanization has separated many of us from getting our hands in the dirt- but many of us love having indoor plants in our homes, offices, and apartments, and we come in contact with their leaves and soil, and therefore their bacteria.
This relationship between plant bacteria and skin remains unclear. Dr. Mhuireach wanted to shed some light on this microbial relationship and uncover whether plant microbes can colonize human skin. By using our controlled climate chamber, five indoor plant species, and simulated touch contact events, we found that human skin increased in microbial diversity and became more similar to the plant microbial communities, temporarily establishing bacterial communities on skin. Mostly, these bacteria were washed away after using soap and water to wash hands, but a few tough soil taxa clung on.
This study represents an initial characterization of bacterial relationships between humans and indoor plants, which represent a potentially valuable element of biodiversity in the built environment. Although environmental microbiota are unlikely to permanently colonize skin following a single contact event, repeated or continuous exposures to indoor plant biodiversity may be increasingly relevant for the functioning and diversity of the human microbiome as urbanization continues.