MICROBIOLOGY

SPECIAL PROBLEM
GROUP # 1
Microbial composition

of
pimples and dandruff
 INTRODUCTION

Background of the study,

Skin, in anatomy, is the protective organ
covering the external surface of the body. The
skin is prone to diseases from external as well
as internal causes. The skin inflammation
which is very common in adolescence is pimple.
Bacterium responsible for the cause of skin
infection are Propionibacterium acnes and
Staphylococcus aureus.
Scalp, is the anatomical area covering the
vault of the skull.
The primary scalp infection is the
infection of the first layer of the scalp.

Dandruff is the dry, white, or greyish

substances that appear in patches on the
top of the head. It is not caused by any
foreign elements, but two microorganisms
found on every human scalp - Malassezia
yeast (Pityrosporum ovale) and Pityriasis
simplex capitis.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

The focus of the research is  to compare the

morphological, structural, compositional
relationship between dandruff and pimples.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:

The researchers, who are biology

students, will be familiarized with the
collection of specimen, culture method and
comparing the two species.
The researchers will also be using
this study as a frame of references about the
bacterial activity on pimples and dandruff.
GENERAL OBJECTIVE:
To compare the morphological, structural,
compositional relationship between isolated
and cultured microbes of pimples and
dandruff.
 OTHER OBJECTIVES:
 To isolate microbes from a person who has
pimples and dandruff.
 To conduct the gram staining of the

isolated bacteria and classify isolated

microorganisms using Gram staining.
 To isolate the pure cultures of microbes.
LIMITATIONS:
This study is limited to the microbes found in
dandruff flakes and pustules of pimples. For
confirmation, gram staining will be employed
to determine whether the colonies isolated are
gram positive. For fungi samples, gram
staining will not be used. Instead selective
media that will promote the growth of fungi
best will be used for plating.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

SKIN:

The skin is a soft outer covering of an

animal, in particular a vertebrate.
The common skin inflammation is pimple.

PIMPLE:
A pimple is a small papule or pustule
or inflammation of the skin – they are oil
glands that are infected with bacteria,
become inflamed, and then fill up with pus.
 The bacteria responsible for pimples are

Propionibacterium acne,
is a major inhabitant of
adult human skin, lives on fatty acids in
the oil glands on sebum secreted by
follicles. It is a common gram positive
non spore forming anaerobic rod and
typically grows as an obligate anaerobe.

Staphylococcus aureus,
is a part of skin flora found
in the nose and on skin. It is a
facultative anaerobe, gram positive
coccus which can cause a range of skin
infections such as pimples, boils, etc.
SCALP:
is the anatomical area bordered by the
face anteriorly and the neck to the sides and
posteriorly.
The primary infection of the scalp is dandruff.

DANDRUFF:
is a common problem due to the
excessive shedding of dead skin cells from the
scalp. Dandruff occurs when the scalp sheds
dead epidermal cells in large clumps.
The microbe related to Dandruff is,
Malassezia globosa(Pityrosporum ovale),
is a liphophilic yeast belonging to the
normal human cutaneous flora in adults.
As the fungus requires fat to grow, it is most
common in areas with many sebaceous glands
on the scalp, face and upper part of the body.
When the fungus grows too rapidly the natural
renewal of cells is disturbed and dandruff
appears with itching.
TECHNIQUES TO BE USED:
STREAK PLATING:
is used to isolate a
pure strain from a single
species of a microbes. A
microbial culture can be
grown so that the organism
can be identified, studied.

SERIAL DILUTION:
is a step wise dilution
of the sample in solution and
it is used to accurately create
highly diluted solutions for the
estimation of bacterial count
of the sample.
Gram staining:
is a common technique used
to differentiate different groups of
bacteria based on their different
cell wall constituents.

Pure culture:
is a population of cells
growing in the absence of other
species. A pure culture may
originate from a single cell or
single organism.