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 2022-01-01 to 2026-01-01.)

Article	Citations
Editorial overview: Fungal diversity: Now for something completely different	163
Convergence in domesticated fungi used for cheese and dry-cured meat maturation: beneficial traits, genomic mechanisms, and degeneration	132
PhoU: a multifaceted regulator in microbial signaling and homeostasis	106
The mass spectrometry of microbiome-mediated metabolism of food: challenges and opportunities	98
Genetic and environmental factors shape the host response to Helicobacter hepaticus: insights into IBD pathogenesis	90
Renal implications of coronavirus disease 2019: insights into viral tropism and clinical outcomes	90
Synthetic microbial communities for studying and engineering the tree microbiome: challenges and opportunities	90
Genetic mechanisms governing sporulation initiation in Clostridioides difficile	89
Citrobacter rodentium(ϕStx2dact), a murine infection model for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli	88
Innovative approaches in the discovery of terpenoid natural products	85
The mycobiome: interactions with host and implications in diseases	81
Vertebrate and invertebrate animal infection models of Candida auris pathogenicity	74
Transient microbial architects: tracing the legacy effects of ephemeral taxa during plant microbiome assembly	69
Editorial Board	68
Editorial overview: Antibiotics special issue	68
Manipulation of host cell plasma membranes by intracellular bacterial pathogens	66
Co-opting bacterial viruses for DNA exchange: structure and regulation of gene transfer agents	65
Editorial overview: Unraveling microbiome complexity	64
Crosstalk between (p)ppGpp and other nucleotide second messengers	64
Insights into Alphaproteobacterial regulators of cell envelope remodeling	62
Control of bacterial second messenger signaling and motility by heme-based direct oxygen-sensing proteins	60
Coevolution of a generalist pathogen with many hosts: the case of the amphibian chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis	59
Fungus–insect interactions beyond bilateral regimes: the importance and strategy to outcompete host ectomicrobiomes by fungal parasites	58
Fungal effectors: past, present, and future	57
Ca2+-calmodulin signalling at the host-pathogen interface	56

Function of autophagy genes in innate immune defense against mucosal pathogens	56
The impact of the host microbiota on Candida albicans infection	56
Editorial overview: Human fungal pathogens: An increasing threat	55
Innovative and potential treatments for fungal central nervous system infections	53
Defining the expanding mechanisms of phage-mediated activation of bacterial immunity	53
Bottlenecks and opportunities in antibiotic discovery against Mycobacterium tuberculosis	53
Advances in regulation of homeostasis through chromatin modifications by airway commensals	52
Neuroinvasion and neurotropism of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection	52
Connecting microbial community assembly and function	50
Antifungal drug-resistance mechanisms in Candida biofilms	49
Soterobionts: disease-preventing microorganisms and proposed strategies to facilitate their discovery	49
Assembly of the exosporium layer in Clostridioides difficile spores	48
Host control by SPβ phage regulatory switch as potential manipulation strategy	46
Editorial Board	45
Conditionally unutilized proteins and their profound effects on growth and adaptation across microbial species	45
Circadian interactions between plants and microorganisms	44
The maternal gut microbiome during pregnancy and its role in maternal and infant health	41
Decoding the epigenetic blueprint behind Toxoplasma (pre)sexual commitment and chronic persistence	40
Trace gas oxidation as a novel microbial dispersal trait	40
Activation of complement-like antiparasitic responses in Anopheles mosquitoes	40
How do interactions between mobile genetic elements affect horizontal gene transfer?	40
Toward merging bottom–up and top–down model-based designing of synthetic microbial communities	39
Pain killers: the interplay between nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and Clostridioides difficile infection	39
The human vaginal microbiota: from clinical medicine to models to mechanisms	38
Ready, STAT3, Go! Bacteria in the race for M2 macrophage polarisation	37
The power of the small: the underestimated role of small proteins in bacterial and archaeal physiology	37
Differences and similarities between innate immune evasion strategies of human coronaviruses	37
Bacteriophage communities are a reservoir of unexplored microbial diversity in neonatal health and disease	37
Toothpicks, logic, and next-generation sequencing: systematic investigation of bacteriophage-host interactions	36
Editorial overview: Antibiotic discovery: Feeding the pipeline or finding new pipes?	36
Cell cycle regulation in Escherichia coli: from governing principles, checkpoints, and control variables to molecular mechanisms	36
Dissecting skin microbiota and microenvironment for the development of therapeutic strategies	35
Editorial Board	34
Environmental adaptation and diversification of bacterial two-component systems	34
Editorial overview: There and back again: a phage’s tale	34
Ecological and functional roles of bacteriophages in contrasting environments: marine, terrestrial and human gut	34
Regulation of para-cresol production in Clostridioides difficile	33
Editorial overview: Turtles all the way down: Bacterial cell regulation across scales	33
Phage transmission strategies: are phages farming their host?	32
Second messenger signaling in Clostridioides difficile	31
Cell cycle-regulated ApiAP2s and parasite development: the Toxoplasma paradigm	31
A tale of two nitrous oxide reductases: a cautionary perspective	31
Reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance in the context of One Health	30
SOS-independent bacterial DNA damage responses: diverse mechanisms, unifying function	29
Emergence and adaptation of the cellular machinery directing antigenic variation in the African trypanosome	29
Editorial overview: Recent advances in fundamental and translational research on parasitic protists	29
The intricate organizational strategy of nucleus-forming phages	29
Antibiotic tolerance: targeting bacterial survival	29
New targets for antimalarial drug discovery	29
Virulence-associated factors as targets for phage infection	28

Biological and bioinformatic tools for the discovery of unknown phage–host combinations	28
Is Cryptococcus neoformans a pleomorphic fungus?	27
Investigating bacterial evolution in nature with metagenomics	27
PII-like signaling proteins: a new paradigm in orchestrating cellular homeostasis	26
The importance of persistence and dormancy in Trypanosoma cruzi infection and Chagas disease	26
Archaeal key-residents within the human microbiome: characteristics, interactions and involvement in health and disease	26
Chemical communication in plant–microbe beneficial interactions: a toolbox for precise management of beneficial microbes	26
Surface-displayed glycopolymers of Clostridioides difficile	25
Clostridioides difficile peptidoglycan modifications	25
Editorial overview: emerging avenues in antimicrobial research	25
Activation of the extracytoplasmic function σ factor σV by lysozyme in Clostridioides difficile	25
Beyond resistance: antifungal heteroresistance and antifungal tolerance in fungal pathogens	25
Temporospatial control of topoisomerases by essential cellular processes	24
Gram-positive pathogens, inflammation, and the host lipid environment	24
Can a microbial community become an evolutionary individual?	24
Editorial overview: Return of the phages — a new golden era of molecular discovery and synthetic biology	24
Predicting the evolution of antibiotic resistance	23
Plasmids of Clostridioides difficile	23
The promise of CRISPR-associated transposons for bacterial functional genomics	23
Strains to go: interactions of the skin microbiome beyond its species	23
Deciphering mechanisms and implications of bacterial translocation in human health and disease	23
The ribosome as a small-molecule sensor	23
Editorial Board	23
Editorial Board	23
Cooperative defenses during enteropathogenic infection	23
Host genetics regulate the plant microbiome	22
Horizontal gene transfer and beyond: the delivery of biological matter by bacterial membrane vesicles to host and bacterial cells	22
Prokaryote pangenomes are dynamic entities	22
Diversity and evolution of alphaproteobacterial dimorphism	22
Brownian ratchet mechanisms for carboxysome positioning in bacteria	21
Editorial overview: current state and future of the microbiome field: why context matters	21
Innate immune response to Candida auris	21
Host-directed therapies for malaria: possible applications and lessons from other indications	21
Molecular mechanisms of cellular quiescence in apicomplexan parasites	21
Phage defense origin of animal immunity	21
Microbiome rescue: directing resilience of environmental microbial communities	21
Engineering genetic circuits: advancements in genetic design automation tools and standards for synthetic biology	21