In an article published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases , the authors discussed the involvement of archaea, a lesser-known but important component of the human microbiome, in various infectious diseases. Perspective: Archaea in the Human Microbiome and Potential Effects on Human Infectious Disease . Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms that represent a separate domain of life, next to bacteria and eukarya.
Although they typically reside only in extreme conditions, such as hot springs, recent studies have shown that archaea are essential components of the human microbiome. A variety of archaeal species have been identified in the human skin, respiratory tract, urogenital tract, and gastrointestinal tract microbiome. Predominant examples include ammonia-oxidizing Nitrososphaeria on the skin, methane-producing (methanogenic) archaea in the urogenital and gastrointestinal tracts and unknown Nanoarchaeota in the respiratory tract.
These discoveries indicate a broader ecological role for archaea than previously understood. Cycle of pathogen actions. Triangles indicate pathogenic potentials for archaea.
The other actions still require attention and strategic research. Figure created with BioRender ( https://www.biorender.
com ). Archaea are commonly considered non-pathogenic despite being known to be associated with various diseases, including periodontitis, endodontic infections, small intestinal bacterial overgrow.