ArticleNature microbiology2019
Global diversity and biogeography of bacterial communities in wastewater treatment plants.
Article in Nature microbiology, 2019. 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 237 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
237 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The microbial dark matter and "wanted list" in worldwide wastewater treatment plants.Microbiome · 2023Pooled it
- Re-Emerging Bacterial Pathogens, Resistance Genes and Promising Bioindicators in Raw and Treated Sewage-Addressing a Known Issue from a Different Angle and Perspective.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- TLR/NF-κB activation in vitro as a tool in the assessment of occupational bioaerosol exposure and health risks in wastewater treatment plants.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- Divergent assembly patterns of core and non-core microbial taxa under low environmental heterogeneity in the surface waters of the Xisha Islands.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Megascale microbiome analysis with DartUniFrac.Nature biotechnology · 2026Article
- Application of antibiotics for the selective isolation of previously uncultured species from activated sludge.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Exploring local and regional drivers of microbial biodiversity across freshwater ponds.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
- SubCom analysis: dissecting microbial community functions into taxon-specific contributions and interaction contexts.Microbiome · 2026Article
- Stage-dependent environmental filtering and microbial community reassembly in a full-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB)-two-stage anoxic/oxic (A/O) landfill leachate treatment system.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- Bionic Solar-Powered Heavy Metal Trap for Eco-Friendly Sludge Drying and Simultaneous Electricity Generation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Linking composition and function: a two-year metatranscriptomic study of microbial adaptation in an industrial wastewater treatment plant.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
- Molecular mechanism underlying biofloc formation of Acidovorax soli Q11 and its application potential.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Article
- Divergence of DioeciousMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Transkingdom Interactions Between Viruses and Bacteria: Implications for Wastewater Treatment Efficiency.Food and environmental virology · 2026Review
- Trace lanthanum activation drives deep biological phosphorus removal.Environmental science and ecotechnology · 2026Article
- Oral microbiome profiling of primary oral candidiasis during infection and post-antifungal therapy.Clinical oral investigations · 2026Review
- Whole-Genome Sequence Profiling of Listeria innocua From Different Sources: Implications for Public Health.MicrobiologyOpen · 2026Article
- Divergent Responses of Bacterial Communities to Permafrost Degradation and Their Associations With Carbon Across Vertical Profiles.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Cooperation and the evolution of bacterial niche breadth.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
177 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
35 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Microorganisms in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are essential for water purification to protect public and environmental health. However, the diversity of microorganisms and the factors that control it are poorly understood. Using a systematic global-sampling effort, we analysed the 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences from ~1,200 activated sludge samples taken from 269 WWTPs in 23 countries on 6 continents. Our analyses revealed that the global activated sludge bacterial communities contain ~1 billion bacterial phylotypes with a Poisson lognormal diversity distribution. Despite this high diversity, activated sludge has a small, global core bacterial community (n = 28 operational taxonomic units) that is strongly linked to activated sludge performance. Meta-analyses with global datasets associate the activated sludge microbiomes most closely to freshwater populations. In contrast to macroorganism diversity, activated sludge bacterial communities show no latitudinal gradient. Furthermore, their spatial turnover is scale-dependent and appears to be largely driven by stochastic processes (dispersal and drift), although deterministic factors (temperature and organic input) are also important. Our findings enhance our mechanistic understanding of the global diversity and biogeography of activated sludge bacterial communities within a theoretical ecology framework and have important implications for microbial ecology and wastewater treatment processes.
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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.