Topics and Trends in Most Cited Mycobacterium research and diagnosis Papers

Ranked by citations 18 months after publication

Class of 2026 (Papers Published in 2024)

What topics and trends defined most-cited Mycobacterium research and diagnosis research in the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 cohort shows a strong shift toward drug-resistant tuberculosis research, with Mycobacterium tuberculosis coverage expanding to 56% of top papers. Second-line drug evaluations, tongue swab testing, and machine learning emerged rapidly, while studies on non-tuberculous mycobacteria and general whole-genome sequencing moderated.

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Updated July 29, 2026

At a glance

Field
Mycobacterium research and diagnosis
Cohort label
Class of 2026 (2024 publications)
Papers analyzed
5,482
Papers ranked
20
Top topics in ranked papers
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, whole-genome sequencing, drug susceptibility testing, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
Publication window
Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024
Eligibility
Research articles; reviews excluded
Citation window
18 months post-publication
18m citation range
22–104
Data source
OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026
License
CC BY 4.0

Rankings

20 papers ranked by 18-month citation count

#1 of 5,482
10418m citations

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

Keertan Dheda et al.Nature Reviews Disease Primers202410.1038/s41572-024-00504-2

Keertan DhedaUniversity of Cape Town, South Africa

multidrug-resistant tuberculosisrifampicin resistanceisoniazid resistanceMycobacterium tuberculosisSecond-line drugsextensively drug-resistant tuberculosisdrug susceptibility testingtreatment regimensfluoroquinolonesinjectable agentsbedaquilinelinezolidtransmission dynamicstreatment outcomesadverse eventsdirectly observed therapy
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#2 of 5,482
4918m citations

Global losses due to dairy cattle diseases: A comorbidity-adjusted economic analysis

Philip Rasmussen et al.Journal of Dairy Science202410.3168/jds.2023-24626

Philip RasmussenUniversity of Copenhagen, Denmark

dairy cattle diseasescomorbidity adjustmenteconomic simulationmastitissubclinical mastitisclinical mastitislamenessParatuberculosisdisplaced abomasumdystociametritismilk feverovarian cystsretained placentaketosissubclinical ketosisclinical ketosisMonte Carlo simulationlactational incidence
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#3 of 5,482
4118m citations

Nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM PD) incidence trends in the United States, 2010–2019

Samantha J Bents et al.BMC Infectious Diseases202410.1186/s12879-024-09965-y

Samantha J. BentsNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, United States

nontuberculous mycobacterianontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary diseaseMedicare beneficiariesincidence trendsPoisson generalized linear modelsannual percent changegeographic variationsex differencesrace/ethnicity disparitiescomorbid conditionsallergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosisbronchiectasiscystic fibrosischronic lung diseaseelderly population aged ≥65 yearsregional incidence patternsdisease surveillance
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#4 of 5,482
3918m citations

Mosquitoes provide a transmission route between possums and humans for Buruli ulcer in southeastern Australia

Peter T Mee, Andrew H Buultjens, Jane Oliver et al.Nature Microbiology202410.1038/s41564-023-01553-1

Peter T. Mee, Timothy P. StinearAgriculture Victoria, Australia

Buruli ulcerMycobacterium ulceransAedes notoscriptusPossumsmosquito transmissionPCR screeningspatial scanning statisticsmetabarcodingblood meal analysissingle-nucleotide-polymorphism profilesbacterial genomic analysiswildlife reservoirpossum excretaMornington Peninsulamosquito controlzoonotic transmission
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#5 of 5,482
3518m citations

CD4+ T cells re-wire granuloma cellularity and regulatory networks to promote immunomodulation following Mtb reinfection

Joshua D Bromley et al.Immunity202410.1016/j.immuni.2024.08.002

Sarah M. Fortune, Alex K. Shalek, JoAnne L. FlynnRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, United States

Mycobacterium tuberculosisMtb reinfectionCD4+ T cell depletionNon-human primate modelgranuloma cellularityImmunological primingprotective immunityCD8+ T cell reprogrammingneutrophiliatype 1 immune signalingmyeloid cell modulationlung cellular milieuImmunomodulationtuberculosis vaccine developmentinnate immune cell targeting
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#6 of 5,482
3218m citations

Specific CD4+ T cell phenotypes associate with bacterial control in people who ‘resist’ infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Meng Sun, Jolie M Phan, Nathan S Kieswetter, Mark M Davis, Chetan Seshadri et al.Nature Immunology202410.1038/s41590-024-01897-8

Mark M. Davis, Chetan SeshadriStanford University, United States

Mycobacterium tuberculosisresisters (RSTR)IFN-γ− T cell responsesMtb-specific antigensclonal expansionCD4+ T cellsTH17 cellsRegulatory T cellslatent tuberculosis infectiontuberculosis progressionSouth African adolescentsNon-human primate modelbacterial controlT cell biomarkersImmunological priming
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#7 of 5,482
3218m citations

Propionate prevents loss of the PDIM virulence lipid in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Thomas J Wiggins, Jinhua Cui et al.Nature Microbiology202410.1038/s41564-024-01697-8

Michael BerneyAlbert Einstein College of Medicine, United States

propionatePhthiocerol dimycocerosateMycobacterium tuberculosisVirulence lipidLipid biosynthesismetabolic regulationbacterial virulence factorsmycolic acidscarbon metabolismshort-chain fatty acidsmycobacterial cell envelopepathogenicitylipid loss prevention
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#9 of 5,482
2918m citations

Pathogenic role for CD101-negative neutrophils in the type I interferon-mediated immunopathogenesis of tuberculosis

Mohd Saqib et al.Cell Reports202410.1016/j.celrep.2024.115072

Bibhuti B. MishraAlbany Medical College, United States

CD101-negative neutrophilsCD101-positive neutrophilsMycobacterium tuberculosistype I interferonsneutrophil heterogeneityMtb phagocytosisimmature granulocytesextracellular persistenceepithelial damagesurfactant productionGranulocyte colony-stimulating factorCXCR2pulmonary accumulationtuberculosis immunopathogenesisIFN-I-dependent recruitmentneutrophil Mtb uptake suppression
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#10 of 5,482
2818m citations

A first-in-class leucyl-tRNA synthetase inhibitor, ganfeborole, for rifampicin-susceptible tuberculosis: a phase 2a open-label, randomized trial

Andreas H Diacon et al.Nature Medicine202410.1038/s41591-024-02829-7

David Barros-AguirreTASK, South Africa

Ganfeborolebenzoxaboroleleucyl-tRNA synthetaseMycobacterium tuberculosisrifampicin-susceptible tuberculosisearly bactericidal activitypulmonary tuberculosissputum-derived colony-forming unitsRifafour e-27518F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomographycomputed tomographytuberculosis lesion typesWhole blood transcriptional responseneutrophil-dominated transcriptional modulesphase 2a trialfirst-in-class inhibitor
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#12 of 5,482
2718m citations

Quantitative measurement of antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis reveals genetic determinants of resistance and susceptibility in a target gene approach

CRyPTIC ConsortiumNature Communications202410.1038/s41467-023-44325-5

Joshua CarterResearch Center Borstel, Germany

Mycobacterium tuberculosisdrug susceptibility testingwhole-genome sequencingminimum inhibitory concentrationmultivariable linear mixed modelmicrotiter plate assayMIC-elevating variantshypersensitivity mutationsmolecular diagnosticsgenetics-based diagnosticsdrug resistance predictionGenotype-phenotype mappingclinical isolatesfirst-line drugsSecond-line drugs
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#13 of 5,482
2718m citations

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

Dika Apriliana Wulandari et al.Clinica Chimica Acta202410.1016/j.cca.2024.119701

Irkham IrkhamUniversitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia

multidrug-resistant tuberculosisrifampicin resistanceisoniazid resistanceMycobacterium tuberculosisSecond-line drugsextensively drug-resistant tuberculosisdrug susceptibility testingtreatment regimensfluoroquinolonesinjectable agentsbedaquilinelinezolidtransmission dynamicstreatment outcomesadverse eventsdirectly observed therapy
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#14 of 5,482
2618m citations

Identification of bacterial determinants of tuberculosis infection and treatment outcomes: a phenogenomic analysis of clinical strains

Sydney Stanley et al.The Lancet Microbe202410.1016/s2666-5247(24)00022-3

Sydney StanleyHarvard T H Chan School of Public Health, United States

Mycobacterium tuberculosisphenogenomic analysisclinical isolatesgenetic barcodingcompetitive fitness assaysGenome-wide association studycavitary diseasetreatment failureRv1339glycerol metabolismlineage 1.1.1.1terminal branch length analysistransmission potentialhost-relevant metabolic conditionsdrug-sensitive strainsheritable fitness phenotypesmonogenic mutationsphylogenetically linked variantsgrowth regulationdeep sequencing
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#15 of 5,482
2518m citations

Clinical Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing for Diagnosis of Central Nervous System Infections: Advances and Challenges

LingHui David Su et al.Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy202410.1007/s40291-024-00727-9

Anne PiantadosiBritish Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Canada

metagenomic next-generation sequencingCentral nervous system infectionsclinical diagnosispathogen detectioncerebrospinal fluidunbiased sequencinginfectious meningitisencephalitisculture-negative infectionsbacterial identificationviral identificationfungal identificationdiagnostic yieldTurnaround timecontaminationBioinformatics pipelineclinical implementationantimicrobial stewardship
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#16 of 5,482
2418m citations

Metabolically active neutrophils represent a permissive niche for Mycobacterium tuberculosis

J. Tucker Andrews et al.Mucosal Immunology202410.1016/j.mucimm.2024.05.007

Lu HuangUniversity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, United States

Mycobacterium tuberculosisneutrophil heterogeneitymitochondrial metabolismactivated neutrophilssingle-cell metabolic analysissingle-cell transcriptional analysislung granulomasNon-human primate modellipid uptakelipid accumulationinterferon-γbacterial burdenpermissive nicheintracellular bacterial survivalhost-directed therapeuticsmetabolic pathwaystuberculosis pathology
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#17 of 5,482
2418m citations

The catalogue of Mycobacterium tuberculosis mutations associated with drug resistance to 12 drugs in China from a nationwide survey: a genomic analysis

Shaojun Pei et al.The Lancet Microbe202410.1016/s2666-5247(24)00131-9

Zhongwei Jia, A Sarah Walker, Yanlin ZhaoPeking University, China

Mycobacterium tuberculosisdrug resistance mutationsWHO catalogueMYCOTB platesrifampicinisoniazidethambutollevofloxacinmoxifloxacinminimum inhibitory concentrationgyrA_Ala288AspIndelsefflux pump geneshigh-level resistance mutationsphenotypically resistant genotypically susceptible isolatesodds ratiospositive predictive valuesdrug susceptibility testingamikacinbedaquiline
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#18 of 5,482
2218m citations

Compensatory evolution in NusG improves fitness of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis

Kathryn A Eckartt, Madeleine Delbeau et al.Nature202410.1038/s41586-024-07206-5

Elizabeth A. Campbell, Jeremy M. RockThe Rockefeller University, United States

rifampicin resistanceMycobacterium tuberculosiscompensatory mutationsfitness costRNA polymeraseNusGCRISPR interferencecomparative functional genomicsRNAP pausingNusG-RNAP interfacepositive selectiondrug-resistant strainstranscription factorclinical isolatespro-pausing function
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#19 of 5,482
2218m citations

Five-Year Outcomes among U.S. Bronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry Patients

Timothy R Aksamit et al.American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine202410.1164/rccm.202307-1165oc

Timothy R AksamitCOPD Foundation, United States

nontuberculous mycobacteriabronchiectasisBronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry5-year outcomesall-cause mortalityFEV1 percent predictedPseudomonas aeruginosaexacerbationshospitalizationslung function declineCox proportional hazards modeldisease severitybody mass indexNTM acquisitionspirometry
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#20 of 5,482
2218m citations

Diagnostic accuracy of tongue swab testing on two automated tuberculosis diagnostic platforms, Cepheid Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra and Molbio Truenat MTB Ultima

Rachel C Wood et al.Journal of Clinical Microbiology202410.1128/jcm.00019-24

Rachel C WoodUniversity of Washington, United States

Tongue swab testingXpert MTB/RIF UltraMolbio Truenat MTB Ultimadry swab storageCopan FLOQSwabsmicrobiological reference standardMGIT culturediagnostic sensitivitydiagnostic specificityself-collectionsemi-quantitative resultssample lysate freeze-thawtuberculosis diagnosisnon-sputum sample collectionWestern Cape South Africafalse-negative resultsinvalid test results
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Dominant research themes and year-over-year shifts in Mycobacterium research and diagnosis

What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

Research in the Class of 2026 cohort is overwhelmingly anchored by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which appears in 56% of top-cited publications as studies focus on resolving drug resistance mechanisms and improving clinical diagnostics. Genomic surveillance and resistance profiling represent the central methodological pillars of the field, led by whole-genome sequencing (14%), drug susceptibility testing (12%), and targeted identification of drug resistance mutations (8%). Specifically, resistance to critical therapeutics—most notably rifampicin resistance (8%), isoniazid resistance (6%), and second-line drugs (8%) including bedaquiline (6%)—dominates translational investigation. Clinical disease management centers on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (10%) and pulmonary tuberculosis (10%), backed by molecular diagnostic tools such as Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (6%) and phenotypic assays quantifying minimum inhibitory concentration (6%). While nontuberculous mycobacteria (8%) and associated pulmonary disease (6%) remain notable secondary areas of focus, the core momentum of the field is overwhelmingly dedicated to combating drug-resistant tuberculosis through integrated genomic, diagnostic, and pharmacological approaches.

Leading research themes
Leading research themes

How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparison between the Class of 2025 and Class of 2026 cohorts highlights a pronounced shift toward actionable drug resistance surveillance and specialized diagnostic modalities. Investigation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis itself expanded substantially, rising from 42% to 56% of top publications. Emerging focus areas registered notable gains, with second-line drugs advancing from zero representation to 8% of top papers, alongside the rise of non-human primate models (6%), tongue swab testing (4%), and machine learning applications (4%) for diagnostic interpretation. Conversely, research on opportunistic non-tuberculous pathogens experienced a marked decline: nontuberculous mycobacteria dropped from 20% to 8%, Mycobacterium avium complex decreased from 12% to 4%, and Mycobacterium abscessus fell from 12% to 6%. Broad methodologies like whole-genome sequencing saw slight moderation (from 18% to 14%) as efforts pivoted from general sequencing toward targeted clinical application. Overall, the field transitioned away from broad non-tuberculous species surveys toward focused clinical strategies addressing complex drug-resistant tuberculosis.

How topics shifted year over year
How topics shifted year over year
Methodology

PRI identifies high-impact research using a transparent, topic-agnostic framework applied consistently across scientific domains. Bibliographic records are drawn from OpenAlex, including publication dates, citation relationships, and document types.

This ranking covers the Class of 2026 cohort: journal articles published in 2024. Reviews and other non-article document types are excluded to ensure comparability.

Research impact is quantified with an 18-month post-publication citation window—the number of citing works published within 18 months of each paper's publication date. This metric captures early impact while controlling for publication age.

An LLM-based relevance classifier then reviews each candidate's title and abstract to confirm substantive alignment with the target domain. Only papers classified as relevant appear in the final ranking.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459

Full methodologyGitHubbioRxiv preprint

Cite this ranking

Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Mycobacterium research and diagnosis Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/mycobacterium-research-and-diagnosis/2026. Accessed 2026-07-29.

Methodology
Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459