皮肤作为人体最大的器官，上面定居着各种各样的微生物，它们大部分是无害的，甚至对人体有益。皮肤表面的生态环境因不同的表面特征和外部因素而呈现不同的格局，使得分布于皮肤上的微生物群落出现差异。分子生物学技术的发展使研究皮肤表面微生物群落的高度多样性和多变性成为可能，而且可从生态系统角度去理解和认识皮肤微生物。本文就皮肤微生物群落的主要特点、微生物群落与疾病的联系及其具体应用等方面作一综述。

Skin is the largest human organ, inhabited by diverse microorganisms, and most of these microorganisms are harmless or even beneficial to their host. The skin surface is highly variable depending on the characteristics of surface structure and environmental factors, and this drives the variation of skin microbial communities. The development of molecular methods let us know high diversity and variation of microbial communities in human skins, and let us understand skin microorganisms with the perception of skin as an ecosystem. The purpose of this review is to brie?y describe the patterns of skin microbial community and its association with skin diseases, and some of related applications.