Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39890791›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

An atlas of metabolites driving chemotaxis in prokaryotes.

Maéva Brunet, Shady A Amin, Iurii Bodachivskyi, Unnikrishnan Kuzhiumparambil, Justin R Seymour, Jean-Baptiste Raina

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Specificities of chemosensory receptors in the human gut microbiota.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
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

6 authors.

Maéva BrunetClimate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4245-2075
Shady A AminMarine Microbiomics Lab, Biology Program, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3780-8102
Iurii BodachivskyiDepartment of Chemistry of Bioactive Nitrogen Containing Heterocyclic Bases, V.P. Kukhar Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Petrochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5803-4674
Unnikrishnan KuzhiumparambilClimate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
Justin R SeymourClimate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3745-6541
Jean-Baptiste RainaClimate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia. jean-baptiste.raina@uts.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7508-0004

Funding

Department of Education and Training | Australian Research Council (ARC) FT210100100Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Gordon E. and Betty I. Moore Foundation) GBMF9335
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chemicals inducing chemotaxis have been characterised for over 60 years across hundreds of publications. Without any synthesis of these scattered results, our current understanding of the molecules affecting prokaryotic behaviours is fragmented. Here, we examined 341 publications to assemble a comprehensive database of prokaryotic chemoeffectors, compiling the effect (attractant, repellent or neutral) of 926 chemicals previously tested and the chemotactic behaviour of 394 strains. Our analysis reveals that (i) not all chemical classes trigger chemotaxis equally, in particular, amino acids and benzenoids are much stronger attractants than carbohydrates; (ii) over one-quarter of attractants tested are not used for growth but solely act as chemotactic signals; (iii) the prokaryote's origin matters, as terrestrial strains respond to 50% more chemicals than those originating from human or marine biomes; (iv) repellents affect cell behaviour at concentrations 10-fold higher than attractants; (v) the effect of large molecules and the behaviour of bacteria other than Proteobacteria have been largely overlooked. Taken together, our findings provide a unifying view of the chemical characteristics that affect prokaryotic behaviours globally.

Indexed as

BacteriaChemotactic FactorsChemotaxisProkaryotic CellsAmino AcidsHumansAmino AcidsChemotactic Factors

Identifiers

PMID39890791
PMCPMC11785958

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.