Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42517159›Full record

ArticleResearch (Washington, D.C.)2026

Cigarette Butts as an Emerging Urban Habitat Driving Microbial Niche Differentiation.

Ting Xie, Jia-Yang Xu, Da Lin, Yang Liu, Yi-Fei Wang, Zhu-Gen Yang, Patrick K H Lee, Dong Zhu

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Research (Washington, D.C.), 2026. 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

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

8 authors.

Ting XieState Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Ningbo Urban Environment Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
Jia-Yang XuState Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Ningbo Urban Environment Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
Da LinState Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Ningbo Urban Environment Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
Yang LiuSchool of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China.
Yi-Fei WangState Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Ningbo Urban Environment Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
Zhu-Gen YangFaculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, Milton Keynes MK43 0AL, UK.
Patrick K H LeeSchool of Energy and Environment and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Dong ZhuState Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Ningbo Urban Environment Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0826-6423

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cigarette butts are common yet overlooked pollutants in urban environments. How this anthropogenic niche shapes microbial life-history strategies and evolutionary mechanisms remains poorly understood, limiting assessments of microbial adaption and urban ecosystem health. However, systematic and multiscale evidence on the ecological effects of cigarette butts on microbial communities remains scarce. Here, we collected cigarette butts, litter, and soil samples from urban parks in 35 Chinese cities and integrated third-generation 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing, metagenomics, and transcriptomics to resolve microbial community composition, functional potential, and evolutionary patterns. The results revealed that microbial communities in cigarette butts were shaped by strong deterministic processes, showed low spatial heterogeneity, and were taxonomically distinct from those in natural niche (i.e., litter) and surrounding soil, with notable enrichment of Proteobacteria, particularly the family Pseudomonadaceae. Functional trait analysis showed that butt-associated communities favored environmental responsiveness and fast-growth strategies, contrasting with metabolism- and resource acquisition-oriented strategies in the litter. Population genomic analysis suggested stronger positive selection in cigarette butt-associated Pseudomonadaceae, while the pure culture experiment provided strain-level evidence that cigarette butt exposure induced the up-regulation of key functional genes in

Identifiers

PMID42517159
PMCPMC13402723

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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.