Evidence map›Paper›PMID 9184008›Full record

ReviewMicrobiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR1997

Common themes in microbial pathogenicity revisited.

B B Finlay, S Falkow

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR, 1997. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 447 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
447citing 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

447 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Complete genome sequencing ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Infection strategies ofGut microbes reports · 2026
    Review
  10. Review
  11. Virulence · 2025
    Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Hot Spots of Site-Specific Integration into theInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    Article
  19. Critical role ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2024
    Article
  20. Review

387 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

2 authors.

B B FinlayBiotechnology Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. bfinlay@unixg.ubc.ca
S Falkow

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bacterial pathogens employ a number of genetic strategies to cause infection and, occasionally, disease in their hosts. Many of these virulence factors and their regulatory elements can be divided into a smaller number of groups based on the conservation of similar mechanisms. These common themes are found throughout bacterial virulence factors. For example, there are only a few general types of toxins, despite a large number of host targets. Similarly, there are only a few conserved ways to build the bacterial pilus and nonpilus adhesins used by pathogens to adhere to host substrates. Bacterial entry into host cells (invasion) is a complex mechanism. However, several common invasion themes exist in diverse microorganisms. Similarly, once inside a host cell, pathogens have a limited number of ways to ensure their survival, whether remaining within a host vacuole or by escaping into the cytoplasm. Avoidance of the host immune defenses is key to the success of a pathogen. Several common themes again are employed, including antigenic variation, camouflage by binding host molecules, and enzymatic degradation of host immune components. Most virulence factors are found on the bacterial surface or secreted into their immediate environment, yet virulence factors operate through a relatively small number of microbial secretion systems. The expression of bacterial pathogenicity is dependent upon complex regulatory circuits. However, pathogens use only a small number of biochemical families to express distinct functional factors at the appropriate time that causes infection. Finally, virulence factors maintained on mobile genetic elements and pathogenicity islands ensure that new strains of pathogens evolve constantly. Comprehension of these common themes in microbial pathogenicity is critical to the understanding and study of bacterial virulence mechanisms and to the development of new "anti-virulence" agents, which are so desperately needed to replace antibiotics.

Indexed as

BacteriaBacterial AdhesionBacterial InfectionsBacterial ToxinsGene Expression Regulation, BacterialPhagocytesVirulenceBacterial Toxins

Identifiers

PMID9184008
PMCPMC232605

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.