OOIR: Observatory of International Research

Papers

(The TQCC of Current Opinion in Microbiology is 21. The table below lists those papers that are above that threshold based on CrossRef citation counts [max. 250 papers]. The publications cover those that have been published in the past four years, i.e., from 2021-11-01 to 2025-11-01.)

Article	Citations
The mass spectrometry of microbiome-mediated metabolism of food: challenges and opportunities	142
Synthetic microbial communities for studying and engineering the tree microbiome: challenges and opportunities	136
PhoU: a multifaceted regulator in microbial signaling and homeostasis	124
The mycobiome: interactions with host and implications in diseases	110
Citrobacter rodentium(ϕStx2dact), a murine infection model for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli	98
Genetic mechanisms governing sporulation initiation in Clostridioides difficile	87
Vertebrate and invertebrate animal infection models of Candida auris pathogenicity	85
Convergence in domesticated fungi used for cheese and dry-cured meat maturation: beneficial traits, genomic mechanisms, and degeneration	84
Editorial overview: Antibiotics special issue	82
In vivo studies on Citrobacter rodentium and host cell death pathways	81
Editorial overview: Fungal diversity: Now for something completely different	80
Genetic and environmental factors shape the host response to Helicobacter hepaticus: insights into IBD pathogenesis	80
Renal implications of coronavirus disease 2019: insights into viral tropism and clinical outcomes	79
Seizing the moment: now is the time for integrated global surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in wastewater environments	76
Innovative approaches in the discovery of terpenoid natural products	72
Editorial Board	69
Insights into Alphaproteobacterial regulators of cell envelope remodeling	68
The impact of the host microbiota on Candida albicans infection	66
Control of bacterial second messenger signaling and motility by heme-based direct oxygen-sensing proteins	65
Ca2+-calmodulin signalling at the host-pathogen interface	64
Increasing the PACE of characterising novel transporters by functional genomics	62
Manipulation of host cell plasma membranes by intracellular bacterial pathogens	62
Editorial overview: Unraveling microbiome complexity	61
Co-opting bacterial viruses for DNA exchange: structure and regulation of gene transfer agents	61
Crosstalk between (p)ppGpp and other nucleotide second messengers	61

Function of autophagy genes in innate immune defense against mucosal pathogens	57
Fungus–insect interactions beyond bilateral regimes: the importance and strategy to outcompete host ectomicrobiomes by fungal parasites	57
Coevolution of a generalist pathogen with many hosts: the case of the amphibian chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis	56
Advances in regulation of homeostasis through chromatin modifications by airway commensals	55
Fungal effectors: past, present, and future	55
Connecting microbial community assembly and function	54
Editorial overview: Human fungal pathogens: An increasing threat	54
Assembly of the exosporium layer in Clostridioides difficile spores	53
Bottlenecks and opportunities in antibiotic discovery against Mycobacterium tuberculosis	53
Innovative and potential treatments for fungal central nervous system infections	53
Defining the expanding mechanisms of phage-mediated activation of bacterial immunity	51
Soterobionts: disease-preventing microorganisms and proposed strategies to facilitate their discovery	51
Neuroinvasion and neurotropism of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection	51
Antifungal drug-resistance mechanisms in Candida biofilms	50
Host control by SPβ phage regulatory switch as potential manipulation strategy	48
The maternal gut microbiome during pregnancy and its role in maternal and infant health	48
Editorial Board	45
Pain killers: the interplay between nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and Clostridioides difficile infection	45
Editorial overview: Bacterial microcompartments to the fore as metabolism is put in its place	45
Activation of complement-like antiparasitic responses in Anopheles mosquitoes	44
Conditionally unutilized proteins and their profound effects on growth and adaptation across microbial species	43
Toward merging bottom–up and top–down model-based designing of synthetic microbial communities	43
How do interactions between mobile genetic elements affect horizontal gene transfer?	42
The power of the small: the underestimated role of small proteins in bacterial and archaeal physiology	40
Cell cycle regulation in Escherichia coli: from governing principles, checkpoints, and control variables to molecular mechanisms	39
Ready, STAT3, Go! Bacteria in the race for M2 macrophage polarisation	39
Environmental adaptation and diversification of bacterial two-component systems	38
Dissecting skin microbiota and microenvironment for the development of therapeutic strategies	36
The human vaginal microbiota: from clinical medicine to models to mechanisms	36
Bacteriophage communities are a reservoir of unexplored microbial diversity in neonatal health and disease	36
Differences and similarities between innate immune evasion strategies of human coronaviruses	36
Toothpicks, logic, and next-generation sequencing: systematic investigation of bacteriophage-host interactions	36
Editorial overview: There and back again: a phage’s tale	35
Ecological and functional roles of bacteriophages in contrasting environments: marine, terrestrial and human gut	35
A tale of two nitrous oxide reductases: a cautionary perspective	35
The intricate organizational strategy of nucleus-forming phages	34
Phage transmission strategies: are phages farming their host?	34
Editorial Board	33
Reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance in the context of One Health	33
Editorial overview: Turtles all the way down: Bacterial cell regulation across scales	33
Cell cycle-regulated ApiAP2s and parasite development: the Toxoplasma paradigm	33
Second messenger signaling in Clostridioides difficile	32
Regulation of para-cresol production in Clostridioides difficile	31
Is Cryptococcus neoformans a pleomorphic fungus?	31
Investigating bacterial evolution in nature with metagenomics	31
Antibiotic tolerance: targeting bacterial survival	31
Beyond resistance: antifungal heteroresistance and antifungal tolerance in fungal pathogens	30
SOS-independent bacterial DNA damage responses: diverse mechanisms, unifying function	30
The importance of persistence and dormancy in Trypanosoma cruzi infection and Chagas disease	29
Biological and bioinformatic tools for the discovery of unknown phage–host combinations	29

Editorial overview: Recent advances in fundamental and translational research on parasitic protists	29
New targets for antimalarial drug discovery	29
Emergence and adaptation of the cellular machinery directing antigenic variation in the African trypanosome	29
Virulence-associated factors as targets for phage infection	29
PII-like signaling proteins: a new paradigm in orchestrating cellular homeostasis	28
Chemical communication in plant–microbe beneficial interactions: a toolbox for precise management of beneficial microbes	28
Archaeal key-residents within the human microbiome: characteristics, interactions and involvement in health and disease	28
Editorial overview: emerging avenues in antimicrobial research	28
Predicting the evolution of antibiotic resistance	27
Gram-positive pathogens, inflammation, and the host lipid environment	26
Activation of the extracytoplasmic function σ factor σV by lysozyme in Clostridioides difficile	26
Surface-displayed glycopolymers of Clostridioides difficile	26
Temporospatial control of topoisomerases by essential cellular processes	25
Clostridioides difficile peptidoglycan modifications	25
Strains to go: interactions of the skin microbiome beyond its species	25
Editorial overview: Return of the phages — a new golden era of molecular discovery and synthetic biology	25
Can a microbial community become an evolutionary individual?	24
Host genetics regulate the plant microbiome	24
Prokaryote pangenomes are dynamic entities	24
The promise of CRISPR-associated transposons for bacterial functional genomics	24
Deciphering mechanisms and implications of bacterial translocation in human health and disease	24
Horizontal gene transfer and beyond: the delivery of biological matter by bacterial membrane vesicles to host and bacterial cells	24
Host-directed therapies for malaria: possible applications and lessons from other indications	23
Editorial Board	23
Editorial Board	23
Innate immune response to Candida auris	22
Cooperative defenses during enteropathogenic infection	22
Microbiome rescue: directing resilience of environmental microbial communities	22
Plasmids of Clostridioides difficile	22
The ribosome as a small-molecule sensor	22
Brownian ratchet mechanisms for carboxysome positioning in bacteria	21
Microbiomes for sustainable biomanufacturing	21
Role of pollution on the selection of antibiotic resistance and bacterial pathogens in the environment	21
Engineering genetic circuits: advancements in genetic design automation tools and standards for synthetic biology	21
Interplay of emerging and established technologies drives innovation in natural product antibiotic discovery	21
Phage defense origin of animal immunity	21
Encapsulins: catalysis inside a shell	21
The promise of copper ionophores as antimicrobials	21