Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26083755›Full record

ArticleNature2015

Unusual biology across a group comprising more than 15% of domain Bacteria.

Christopher T Brown, Laura A Hug, Brian C Thomas, Itai Sharon, Cindy J Castelle, Andrea Singh, Michael J Wilkins, Kelly C Wrighton, Kenneth H Williams, Jillian F Banfield

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 601 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
601citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
56.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

601 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 1,304 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Microbial ecology of shallow groundwater ecosystems.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026
    Review
  3. A host-encoded prophage targets a Candidate Phyla Radiation bacterium and shapes episymbiotic interactions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
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  10. A Novel Pilus System in Candidate Phyla Radiation Bacteria.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
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  17. Review
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541 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Christopher T BrownDepartment of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Laura A HugDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Brian C ThomasDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Itai SharonDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Cindy J CastelleDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Andrea SinghDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Michael J Wilkins1] School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA [2] Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
Kelly C WrightonDepartment of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
Kenneth H WilliamsEarth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Jillian F Banfield1] Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [2] Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [3] Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Planetary Science Institute · USUniversity of California, Berkeley · USLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory · USThe Ohio State University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A prominent feature of the bacterial domain is a radiation of major lineages that are defined as candidate phyla because they lack isolated representatives. Bacteria from these phyla occur in diverse environments and are thought to mediate carbon and hydrogen cycles. Genomic analyses of a few representatives suggested that metabolic limitations have prevented their cultivation. Here we reconstructed 8 complete and 789 draft genomes from bacteria representing >35 phyla and documented features that consistently distinguish these organisms from other bacteria. We infer that this group, which may comprise >15% of the bacterial domain, has shared evolutionary history, and describe it as the candidate phyla radiation (CPR). All CPR genomes are small and most lack numerous biosynthetic pathways. Owing to divergent 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences, 50-100% of organisms sampled from specific phyla would evade detection in typical cultivation-independent surveys. CPR organisms often have self-splicing introns and proteins encoded within their rRNA genes, a feature rarely reported in bacteria. Furthermore, they have unusual ribosome compositions. All are missing a ribosomal protein often absent in symbionts, and specific lineages are missing ribosomal proteins and biogenesis factors considered universal in bacteria. This implies different ribosome structures and biogenesis mechanisms, and underlines unusual biology across a large part of the bacterial domain.

Indexed as

Environmental MicrobiologyPhylogenyBacteriaGenome, BacterialIntronsRibosomal ProteinsRNA, Ribosomal, 16SRibosomal ProteinsRNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Identifiers

PMID26083755
OpenAlexW1528357204

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.