ArticleScientific reports2024
The overlooked evolutionary dynamics of 16S rRNA revises its role as the "gold standard" for bacterial species identification.
Article in Scientific reports, 2024. 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 37 papers.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed.
- Molecular analysis of intracanal microbial reduction to compare the effectiveness of glycyrrhizin and calcium hydroxide as intracanal medications: a randomised controlled trial.BMC oral health · 2026Trial
- Microbiome Dynamics of Camel Meat During Cold Storage Revealed by 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing.Biology · 2026Article
- MeioBIOME: A snakemake workflow for the parallel analysis of meiofaunal genomes and host-associated bacteria/archaea.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- From Traditional to Omics-Driven: Emerging Strategies for Isolation, Cultivation, and Identification of Plant Endophytes.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Detection ofAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Implementing portable, real-time 16S rRNA sequencing in the healthcare sector enhances antimicrobial stewardship.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
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- Molecular identification and hydrolase activity profiling of bacteria isolated from septic surface environments using 16S rRNA sequencing.Molecular biology reports · 2026Article
- Avian Aquatic Reservoirs and Zoonotic Potential of Helicobacter spp. in Wetlands from the Southern Caribbean Sea.Current microbiology · 2026Article
- Bioprospecting of Aerobic Bacteria with Proteolytic Potential Isolated from Animal and Water Sources in the Three Regions of Mainland Ecuador.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- SILVA in 2026: a global core biodata resource for rRNA within the DSMZ digital diversity.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Establishing a reference cultivation protocol for systematic characterisation of theFrontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota and intestinal permeability in rheumatoid arthritis: pathogenic mechanisms.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Microbial Evolution and Systematics: Archaea and Bacteria.Progress in molecular and subcellular biology · 2026Review
- A Workflow for Phytoplasma Discovery and Characterization in Potential Insect Vectors: From Non-destructive DNA Extraction and Vouchering to Next-Generation Sequencing.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Genome description of a potentially novel species of Rossellomorea sp. strain H39_3 isolated from the Hindon River, India.Access microbiology · 2026Article
- Integrative assessment of species-level genetic markers for the diagnosis of pathogenicFrontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Morpho-biochemical and molecular characterization of Bacillus subtilis and Priestia megaterium isolates from eastern Indian farmlands.Molecular biology reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The role of 16S rRNA has been and largely remains crucial for the identification of microbial organisms. Although 16S rRNA could certainly be described as one of the most studied sequences ever, the current view of it remains somewhat ambiguous. While some consider 16S rRNA to be a variable marker with resolution power down to the strain level, others consider them to be living fossils that carry information about the origin of domains of cellular life. We show that 16S rRNA is clearly an evolutionarily very rigid sequence, making it a largely unique and irreplaceable marker, but its applicability beyond the genus level is highly limited. Interestingly, it seems that the evolutionary rigidity is not driven by functional constraints of the sequence (RNA-protein interactions), but rather results from the characteristics of the host organism. Our results suggest that, at least in some lineages, Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) within genera plays an important role for the evolutionary non-dynamics (stasis) of 16S rRNA. Such genera exhibit an apparent lack of diversification at the 16S rRNA level in comparison to the rest of a genome. However, why it is limited specifically and solely to 16S rRNA remains enigmatic.
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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.