Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40615392›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Negativeome characterization and decontamination in early-life virome studies.

Nataliia Kuzub, Alexander Kurilshikov, Alexandra Zhernakova, Sanzhima Garmaeva

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 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. 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

4 authors.

Nataliia KuzubDepartment of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8262-8747
Alexander KurilshikovDepartment of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2541-5627
Alexandra ZhernakovaDepartment of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4574-0841
Sanzhima GarmaevaDepartment of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. sana.garmaeva@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0429-833X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Contaminant sequences of external origin complicate the study of host-associated viromes, particularly in low-biomass samples obtained through viral-like particle (VLP) enrichment. However, the prevalence and impact of external contaminants on low-biomass samples are under-studied. Here, we analyze 1321 gut virome samples and 55 negative controls (NCs) from four early-life virome studies. Virus sequences identified in NCs, termed negativeome, were used as a proxy for the contamination assessment. We show that 61% of samples share at least one identical strain with negativeome, likely representing external contamination. While the median abundance of contaminant strains in these samples is only 1%, it ranges from 0 to 99% and exceeds 10% in 11% of infant samples. We further demonstrate that contamination is largely study-specific and has a greater impact on infant samples than on maternal samples. Based on our results, we propose a contamination assessment method using a publicly available database of sequences detected in NCs and a strain-level decontamination strategy.

Indexed as

DecontaminationGastrointestinal MicrobiomeViromeVirusesFecesFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMale

Identifiers

PMID40615392
PMCPMC12227732

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Registered trials

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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.