ArticleMicrobiome2020
Microbiome definition re-visited: old concepts and new challenges.
Article in Microbiome, 2020. 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 1,083 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
1,083 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Impact of Children's Dietary Habits on the Oral Microbiome: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- Gut Microbiota Alterations Associated With Colonization by Multidrug-Resistant Organisms in ICU Patients: First Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.MicrobiologyOpen · 2026Pooled it
- Microbiota composition of the female reproductive tract and miscarriage: a systematic review and meta-analysis.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Pooled it
- Probiotics and prebiotics as alternatives to antibiotics in aquaculture: a systematic and bibliometric review of antimicrobial and antioxidant mechanisms.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- Microbiome and well-being: a meta-analysis.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Pooled it
- Microbiome compositional changes and clonal engraftment in a phase 3 trial of fecal microbiota, live-jslm for recurrentGut microbes · 2025Trial
- Inulin-induced improvements on bowel habit and gut microbiota in adults with functional constipation: findings of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Trial
- Microbiome-based therapeutics forGut microbes · 2026Review
- The role of adhesins ofGut microbes · 2026Review
- The cervicovaginal gut microbiota axis as a key determinant of systemic physiology.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Unveiling the impact of colonic pH and pH-sensing receptors in blood pressure regulation.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Review
- Intestinal gases as markers to study the diet-gut microbiota-host metabolism axis in humans and their relationship to metabolic health.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- The microbiome and PTSD: a scoping review across preclinical and clinical studies.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Article
- What health are we talking about? Biodiversity as the missing link between One Health and Planetary Health.Ambio · 2026Article
- The core taxa connectivity in leaf microbiomes in ash trees stands is modulated by host-related and environmental factors.Environmental microbiome · 2026Article
- Beyond the Rumen: Current Evidence and Knowledge Gaps in Microbial Diversity and Function Across the Bovine Gastrointestinal Tract.Current microbiology · 2026Review
- Dynamic Assembly and Multifunctional Roles of Plant Endophytic Microbiomes.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Gut microbiome dysbiosis, short-chain fatty acid depletion and implications for neuroinflammation in atypical parkinsonian syndromes - a systematic review of patient cohorts.Journal of Parkinson's disease · 2026Review
- The Oral Microbiome in Oral Cavity Cancer: Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis, Biomarkers, and Therapeutic Implications.Current oncology reports · 2026Review
1,023 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
34 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The field of microbiome research has evolved rapidly over the past few decades and has become a topic of great scientific and public interest. As a result of this rapid growth in interest covering different fields, we are lacking a clear commonly agreed definition of the term "microbiome." Moreover, a consensus on best practices in microbiome research is missing. Recently, a panel of international experts discussed the current gaps in the frame of the European-funded MicrobiomeSupport project. The meeting brought together about 40 leaders from diverse microbiome areas, while more than a hundred experts from all over the world took part in an online survey accompanying the workshop. This article excerpts the outcomes of the workshop and the corresponding online survey embedded in a short historical introduction and future outlook. We propose a definition of microbiome based on the compact, clear, and comprehensive description of the term provided by Whipps et al. in 1988, amended with a set of novel recommendations considering the latest technological developments and research findings. We clearly separate the terms microbiome and microbiota and provide a comprehensive discussion considering the composition of microbiota, the heterogeneity and dynamics of microbiomes in time and space, the stability and resilience of microbial networks, the definition of core microbiomes, and functionally relevant keystone species as well as co-evolutionary principles of microbe-host and inter-species interactions within the microbiome. These broad definitions together with the suggested unifying concepts will help to improve standardization of microbiome studies in the future, and could be the starting point for an integrated assessment of data resulting in a more rapid transfer of knowledge from basic science into practice. Furthermore, microbiome standards are important for solving new challenges associated with anthropogenic-driven changes in the field of planetary health, for which the understanding of microbiomes might play a key role. Video Abstract.
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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.