ArticleThe ISME journal2017
Absolute quantification of microbial taxon abundances.
Article in The ISME journal, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 175 papers.
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Who cites it
175 citing papers in PubMed.
- Accurate 16S Absolute Quantification Sequencing Revealed Vaginal Microecological Composition and Dynamics During Mixed Vaginitis Treatment With Fufang FuRong Effervescent Suppository.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Trial
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- Synthetic microbial communities mediate maize growth and soil microecology under saline-alkali stress.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- Stronger legacy-effects of forest fertilization on soil saprotrophic fungi than on ectomycorrhizal fungi in the first decade after clearcutting.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
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- Commercial washing and storage over shelf life impact bacterial communities more than the fungal communities on baby spinach.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- The human breast milk microbiome: a landscape review of its composition, origins, and impact on infant health.Archives of microbiology · 2026Review
- Interindividual differences in acidogenic potential of the salivary microbiome after mouthwash exposure.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Soil microbial diversity, succession, and greenhouse gas cycling across a Greenlandic glacial chronosequence.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
- Probiotics and Antibiotics: From Empirical Practice to a Biological Rationale for Targeted Choice During Antibiotic Therapy.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Microbial Characteristics of the Extrinsic Black Stain in Primary Dentition.International dental journal · 2026Article
- Metabolic division of labor drives estuarine-coastal N2O emissions.The ISME journal · 2026Article
- Sampling method influences hemolymph bacterial communities in the eastern oyster,Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Insights into community profiles, environmental influence, and assembly mechanisms of oyster-associated bacteriome from Yueqing Bay, China via absolute quantitation by metabarcoding.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Harnessing the gut microbiome for precision therapeutics in heart failure.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Interpreting UniFrac with absolute abundance: a conceptual and practical guide.ISME communications · 2026Article
- Manure substitution counteracts mineral nitrogen-driven erosion of theISME communications · 2026Article
- Pharmacomicrobiomics.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2025Review
- Dynamics of an estuarine biotic community captured in high spatio-temporal resolution using metabarcoding.Scientific data · 2025Article
115 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
High-throughput amplicon sequencing has become a well-established approach for microbial community profiling. Correlating shifts in the relative abundances of bacterial taxa with environmental gradients is the goal of many microbiome surveys. As the abundances generated by this technology are semi-quantitative by definition, the observed dynamics may not accurately reflect those of the actual taxon densities. We combined the sequencing approach (16S rRNA gene) with robust single-cell enumeration technologies (flow cytometry) to quantify the absolute taxon abundances. A detailed longitudinal analysis of the absolute abundances resulted in distinct abundance profiles that were less ambiguous and expressed in units that can be directly compared across studies. We further provide evidence that the enrichment of taxa (increase in relative abundance) does not necessarily relate to the outgrowth of taxa (increase in absolute abundance). Our results highlight that both relative and absolute abundances should be considered for a comprehensive biological interpretation of microbiome surveys.
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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.