Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40826361›Full record

SynthesisGenome biology2025

Melody: meta-analysis of microbiome association studies for discovering generalizable microbial signatures.

Zhoujingpeng Wei, Guanhua Chen, Zheng-Zheng Tang

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Genome biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. 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

3 authors.

Zhoujingpeng WeiDepartment of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53715, USA.
Guanhua ChenDepartment of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53715, USA.
Zheng-Zheng TangDepartment of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53715, USA. tang@biostat.wisc.edu.

Funding

Novel Integrative Analysis of Microbiome and Host Genetics in Childhood Asthma ResearchR01AI192972 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI GUANHUA CHEN, Zhengzheng Tang · 2025 to 2026
$1.2M
Advanced Statistical Methods for Microbiome Data AnalysisR01GM140464 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI TANG, ZHENGZHENG · 2020 to 2023
$1.1M
Division of Mathematical Sciences DMS‑2054346National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases R01AI192972NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI192972NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM140464NIGMS NIH HHS R01GM140464
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Standard protocols for meta-analysis of association studies are inadequate for microbiome data due to their complex compositional structure, leading to inaccurate and unstable microbial signature selection. To address this issue, we introduce Melody, a framework that generates, harmonizes, and combines study-specific summary association statistics to powerfully and robustly identify microbial signatures in meta-analysis. Comprehensive and realistic simulations demonstrate that Melody substantially outperforms existing approaches in prioritizing true signatures. In the meta-analyses of five studies on colorectal cancer and eight studies on the gut metabolome, we showcase the superior stability, reliability, and predictive performance of Melody-identified signatures.

Indexed as

Gastrointestinal MicrobiomeMicrobiotaSoftwareColorectal NeoplasmsHumansMetabolomeAbsolute abundanceBest subset selectionCompositional dataMeta-analysisQuasi-multinomial modelRelative abundanceSignature harmonizationSummary statistics

Identifiers

PMID40826361
PMCPMC12359909

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.