Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37739408›Full record

ArticleNucleic acids research2023

Learning from the unknown: exploring the range of bacterial functionality.

Yannick Mahlich, Chengsheng Zhu, Henri Chung, Pavan K Velaga, M Clara De Paolis Kaluza, Predrag Radivojac, Iddo Friedberg, Yana Bromberg

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nucleic acids research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. 16S rRNA sequence captures microbial functional potential.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Polyphasic taxonomy and genome mining ofCurrent research in microbial sciences · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Yannick MahlichDepartment of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, 76 Lipman Dr, New Brunswick, NJ 08873, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0717-2927
Chengsheng ZhuDepartment of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, 76 Lipman Dr, New Brunswick, NJ 08873, USA.
Henri ChungDepartment of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
Pavan K VelagaDepartment of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, 76 Lipman Dr, New Brunswick, NJ 08873, USA.
M Clara De Paolis KaluzaKhoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University, 177 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Predrag RadivojacKhoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University, 177 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6769-0793
Iddo FriedbergDepartment of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1789-8000
Yana BrombergDepartment of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, 76 Lipman Dr, New Brunswick, NJ 08873, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8351-0844
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey · USIowa State University · USNortheastern University · US

Funding

AVA,Dx: Analysis of Variation for Association with DiseaseR01GM115486 · NIGMS · RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIV OF N.J. · PI BROMBERG, YANA · 2019 to 2019
$306k
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM115486
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Determining the repertoire of a microbe's molecular functions is a central question in microbial biology. Modern techniques achieve this goal by comparing microbial genetic material against reference databases of functionally annotated genes/proteins or known taxonomic markers such as 16S rRNA. Here, we describe a novel approach to exploring bacterial functional repertoires without reference databases. Our Fusion scheme establishes functional relationships between bacteria and assigns organisms to Fusion-taxa that differ from otherwise defined taxonomic clades. Three key findings of our work stand out. First, bacterial functional comparisons outperform marker genes in assigning taxonomic clades. Fusion profiles are also better for this task than other functional annotation schemes. Second, Fusion-taxa are robust to addition of novel organisms and are, arguably, able to capture the environment-driven bacterial diversity. Finally, our alignment-free nucleic acid-based Siamese Neural Network model, created using Fusion functions, enables finding shared functionality of very distant, possibly structurally different, microbial homologs. Our work can thus help annotate functional repertoires of bacterial organisms and further guide our understanding of microbial communities.

Indexed as

BacteriaBacterial Physiological PhenomenaDatabases, FactualMicrobiotaPhylogenyRNA, Ribosomal, 16SRNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Identifiers

PMID37739408
PMCPMC10602916
OpenAlexW4386947433

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.