Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40766442›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2025

PCR Bias Impacts Microbiome Ecological Analyses.

Dharmik Rathod, Justin D Silverman

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Dharmik RathodCollege of Information Sciences and Technology, The Pennsylvania State University.
Justin D SilvermanCollege of Information Sciences and Technology, The Pennsylvania State University.

Funding

DMS/NIGMS 1: Addressing Measurement Limitations for Sequence Count DataR01GM148972 · NIGMS · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · PI SILVERMAN, JUSTIN D · 2022 to 2024
$600k
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM148972
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a critical step in amplicon-based microbial community profiling, allowing the selective amplification of marker genes such as 16S rRNA from environmental or host-associated samples. Despite its widespread use, PCR is known to introduce amplification bias, where some DNA sequences are preferentially amplified over others due to factors such as primer-template mismatches, sequence GC content, and secondary structures. Although these biases are known to affect transcript abundance, their implications for ecological metrics remain poorly understood. In this study, we conduct a comprehensive evaluation of how PCR-bias influences both within-samples (

Identifiers

PMID40766442
PMCPMC12324424

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.