ArticleNature2016
Mobile genes in the human microbiome are structured from global to individual scales.
Article in Nature, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 158 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
158 citing papers in PubMed, 306 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Quantitative detection of gut microbial eukaryotes with EukDetect2 reveals global distribution of commensal protists and association with distinct microbial community structure.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Horizontal Gene Transfer inBiology · 2026Review
- Strain transmission links human microbiomes along the oral-gut axis and across cohabiting individuals.Cell press blue · 2026Article
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- A Possible Recently Identified Evolutionary Strategy Using Membrane-Bound Vesicle Transfer of Genetic Material to Induce Bacterial Resistance, Virulence and Pathogenicity inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Large-scale classification of metagenomic samples: a comparative analysis of classical machine learning techniques vs a novel brain-inspired hyperdimensional computing approach.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The role of mobile genetic elements in adaptation of the microbiota to the dynamic human gut ecosystem.Current opinion in microbiology · 2025Review
- Comparative metagenomics using pan-metagenomic graphs.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Longitudinal gut microbiota tracking reveals the dynamics of horizontal gene transfer.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Lessons from the model gut BacteroidalesJournal of bacteriology · 2025Review
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- Industrialization drives convergent microbial and physiological shifts in the human metaorganism.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
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- Evolution and ecology of commensal gut protists: recent advances.Current opinion in genetics & development · 2025Review
- Adaptive Evolution in the Mammalian Gut Microbiota: Insights and Discoveries.Current microbiology · 2025Review
- The role of the gut microbiota and its metabolites: a new predictor in diabetes and its complications.European journal of medical research · 2025Review
98 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
16 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Recent work has underscored the importance of the microbiome in human health, and has largely attributed differences in phenotype to differences in the species present among individuals. However, mobile genes can confer profoundly different phenotypes on different strains of the same species. Little is known about the function and distribution of mobile genes in the human microbiome, and in particular whether the gene pool is globally homogenous or constrained by human population structure. Here, we investigate this question by comparing the mobile genes found in the microbiomes of 81 metropolitan North Americans with those of 172 agrarian Fiji islanders using a combination of single-cell genomics and metagenomics. We find large differences in mobile gene content between the Fijian and North American microbiomes, with functional variation that mirrors known dietary differences such as the excess of plant-based starch degradation genes found in Fijian individuals. Notably, we also observed differences between the mobile gene pools of neighbouring Fijian villages, even though microbiome composition across villages is similar. Finally, we observe high rates of recombination leading to individual-specific mobile elements, suggesting that the abundance of some genes may reflect environmental selection rather than dispersal limitation. Together, these data support the hypothesis that human activities and behaviours provide selective pressures that shape mobile gene pools, and that acquisition of mobile genes is important for colonizing specific human populations.
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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.