ArticleCell2014
A systematic analysis of biosynthetic gene clusters in the human microbiome reveals a common family of antibiotics.
Article in Cell, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 366 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
366 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 704 citations in OpenAlex.
- A meta-analysis of the gut microbiome in inflammatory bowel disease patients identifies disease-associated small molecules.Cell host & microbe · 2025Pooled it
- Gut microbiome-based machine learning for diagnostic prediction of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2023Pooled it
- Temporal dynamics of gut biosynthetic gene clusters link persistent colonization and engraftment in fecal microbiota transplantation.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- Genome mining of alkaliphilic cyanobacterial consortia: identification of biosynthetic gene clusters inApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- From sequence space to ecological function: microbiome-derived antimicrobial peptides as community effectors and therapeutic leads.Essays in biochemistry · 2026Review
- Heterologous expression of NRPS and PKS pathways in Escherichia coli: from bottlenecks to biosynthetic platforms.Essays in biochemistry · 2026Review
- Siwa spring microbiomes as reservoirs of biosynthetic gene clusters: Unlocking natural product potential.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- Biosynthetic gene clusters inmSystems · 2026Article
- The microbiome regulates host metabolic health and diseases through microbial enzymes.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
- The human microbiome as a source of novel bioactive natural products: structures, bioactivities, and biosynthetic insights.Journal of natural medicines · 2026Review
- Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approaches to interrogate host-microbiome interactions in mammalian systems.Natural product reports · 2026Review
- Large-scale investigation for antimicrobial activity reveals newly-identified defensive species across the healthy skin microbiome.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The interplay of specialized metabolites, antibiotic resistance, and virulence in Enterococcus faecium: in silico analysis of bacterial genomes.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Meta-analytic microbiome target discovery for immune checkpoint inhibitor response in advanced melanoma.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Genomic and Functional Diversity of Pseudoalteromonas Associated with the Tropical Bivalve Anadara tuberculosa.Microbial ecology · 2026Article
- Modular biosynthesis of microbiome-derived polyketides and nonribosomal peptides: insights and opportunities for Lactobacillaceae.Microbial cell factories · 2026Review
- A microbiome catalog of Chinese traditional artisanal cheeses provides insights into functional and microbial diversity.Nature communications · 2026Article
- From niche to niche: investigating microbial communities and their specialised metabolite gene clusters in human microbiomes.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- Mining the Hidden Pharmacopeia: Fungal Endophytes, Natural Products, and the Rise of AI-Driven Drug Discovery.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- The biosynthetic gene cluster landscape of the oral microbiome across health and dental caries.Journal of industrial microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
306 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
In complex biological systems, small molecules often mediate microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions. Using a systematic approach, we identified 3,118 small-molecule biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in genomes of human-associated bacteria and studied their representation in 752 metagenomic samples from the NIH Human Microbiome Project. Remarkably, we discovered that BGCs for a class of antibiotics in clinical trials, thiopeptides, are widely distributed in genomes and metagenomes of the human microbiota. We purified and solved the structure of a thiopeptide antibiotic, lactocillin, from a prominent member of the vaginal microbiota. We demonstrate that lactocillin has potent antibacterial activity against a range of Gram-positive vaginal pathogens, and we show that lactocillin and other thiopeptide BGCs are expressed in vivo by analyzing human metatranscriptomic sequencing data. Our findings illustrate the widespread distribution of small-molecule-encoding BGCs in the human microbiome, and they demonstrate the bacterial production of drug-like molecules in humans. PAPERCLIP:
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.