ArticleMicrobiome2018
Absolute quantitation of microbiota abundance in environmental samples.
Article in Microbiome, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 150 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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
150 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 343 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of outdoor airborne fungal spore seasonality across Europe and the implications for health.The Science of the total environment · 2022Pooled it
- 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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- Biases in high throughput sequencing methods affect microbial molecular ecology networks and keystone taxa identification in theCurrent research in microbial sciences · 2026Article
- TR4-triggered recruitment of suppressive rhizomicrobiome enhances Fusarium wilt resistance in banana.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- It takes a village: how plant-associated bacterial communities socialise to shape plant growth and health.Essays in biochemistry · 2026Review
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- Single-cell detection and quantification of the microbiota by MicFLY.Cell host & microbe · 2026Article
- Review
- Bacterial Community Expansion and Nutrient Activation Underlie Yield Improvement Following Diazotrophic Inoculant Application in Paddy Soil.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Disentangling host identity and storage time effects on gut microbiota composition in captive migratory birds using absolute and relative quantification.Current zoology · 2026Article
- Comparing DNA metabarcoding with light microscopy to identify eukaryotic phytoplankton in the Baltic Sea, Kattegat and Skagerrak.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Extracellular vesicles as structured vectors of quorum sensing signals influence aquatic microbial communities.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Article
- Harnessing the gut microbiome for precision therapeutics in heart failure.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- 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
- A novel internal reference microorganism-based method reveals wild-enrichedFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Absolute Quantification of Bacteria in the Microbiome and Its Application.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Quantification of the absolute abundance of the jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota of pigs using spike-in control.Microbiome research reports · 2026Article
- From predation to function: how myxobacteria drive soil microbial community dynamics and ecological functions.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Long-Term Excess Nitrogen Fertilizer Reduces Sorghum Yield by Affecting Soil Bacterial Community.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
90 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMicrobial communities (microbiota) influence human and animal disease and immunity, geochemical nutrient cycling and plant productivity. Specific groups, including bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes or fungi, are amplified by PCR to assess the relative abundance of sub-groups (e.g. genera). However, neither the absolute abundance of sub-groups is revealed, nor can different amplicon families (i.e. OTUs derived from a specific pair of PCR primers such as bacterial 16S, eukaryotic 18S or fungi ITS) be compared. This prevents determination of the absolute abundance of a particular group and domain-level shifts in microbiota abundance can remain undetected.
resultsWe have developed absolute quantitation of amplicon families using synthetic chimeric DNA spikes. Synthetic spikes were added directly to environmental samples, co-isolated and PCR-amplified, allowing calculation of the absolute abundance of amplicon families (e.g. prokaryotic 16S, eukaryotic 18S and fungal ITS per unit mass of sample).
conclusionsSpikes can be adapted to any amplicon-specific group including rhizobia from soils, Firmicutes and Bifidobacteria from human gut or Enterobacteriaceae from food samples. Crucially, using highly complex soil samples, we show that the absolute abundance of specific groups can remain steady or increase, even when their relative abundance decreases. Thus, without absolute quantitation, the underlying pathology, physiology and ecology of microbial groups may be masked by their relative abundance.
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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.