Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42241392›Full record

ArticlePLoS biology2026

Life Identification Numbers: A strain nomenclature approach to aid epidemiological surveillance of bacterial pathogens.

Federica Palma, Melanie Hennart, Keith A Jolley, Chiara Crestani, Kelly L Wyres, Sebastien Bridel, Corin A Yeats, Bryan Brancotte, Brice Raffestin, Sophia David and 12 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS biology, 2026. 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. A One Health study ofMicrobial genomics · 2026
    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

22 authors.

Federica PalmaInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Paris, France.
Melanie HennartInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Paris, France.
Keith A JolleyDepartment of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Chiara CrestaniInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Paris, France.
Kelly L WyresDepartment of Infectious Diseases, School of Translational Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Sebastien BridelInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Paris, France.
Corin A YeatsCentre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance, Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Bryan BrancotteInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub, Paris, France.
Brice RaffestinInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, HPC Core Facility, Paris, France.
Sophia DavidCentre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance, Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Margaret M C LamDepartment of Infectious Diseases, School of Translational Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Radosław IzdebskiDepartment of Molecular Microbiology, National Medicines Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
Virginie PassetInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Paris, France.
Carla RodriguesInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Paris, France.
Martin Rethoret-PastyInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Paris, France.
Audrey CombaryInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Paris, France.
Solene CottisInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Paris, France.
Martin C J MaidenDepartment of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
David M AanensenCentre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance, Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Kathryn E HoltDepartment of Infectious Diseases, School of Translational Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Alexis CriscuoloInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biological Resource Center of Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Sylvain BrisseInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Paris, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2516-2108

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Unified strain taxonomies are needed for the epidemiological surveillance of bacterial pathogens and international communication in microbiological research. Core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) holds great promise for standardized high-resolution strain genotyping. However, this approach faces challenges including classification instability and disconnection of new nomenclature from widely adopted classical MLST identifiers. This Essay discusses the cgMLST-based Life Identification Number (LIN) method, recently proposed as a stable multilevel strain taxonomy system applicable to most bacterial pathogens, covering how LIN codes are implemented and used in practice for precise strain definitions and epidemiological tracking.

Indexed as

BacteriaMultilocus Sequence TypingBacterial Typing TechniquesEpidemiological MonitoringGenome, BacterialHumansPhylogenyTerminology as Topic

Identifiers

PMID42241392
PMCPMC13235900

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.