# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Mycobacterium research and diagnosis Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/mycobacterium-research-and-diagnosis/2026*

## 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.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| 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

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis | Keertan Dheda, Fuad Mirzayev, Daniela Maria Cirillo, Zarir Udwadia, Kelly E Dooley, Kwok-Chiu Chang, Shaheed Vally Omar, Anja Reuter, Tahlia Perumal, C Robert Horsburgh, Megan Murray, Christoph Lange | Keertan Dheda | University of Cape Town, South Africa | Nature Reviews Disease Primers | 104 | 10.1038/s41572-024-00504-2 |
| 2 | Global losses due to dairy cattle diseases: A comorbidity-adjusted economic analysis | Philip Rasmussen, Herman W Barkema, Prince P Osei, James Taylor, Alexandra P Shaw, Beate Conrady, Gemma Chaters, Violeta Muñoz, David C Hall, Ofosuhene O Apenteng, Jonathan Rushton, Paul R Torgerson | Philip Rasmussen | University of Copenhagen, Denmark | Journal of Dairy Science | 49 | 10.3168/jds.2023-24626 |
| 3 | Nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM PD) incidence trends in the United States, 2010–2019 | Samantha J Bents, Rachel A Mercaldo, Collin Powell, Emily Henkle, Theodore K Marras, D Rebecca Prevots | Samantha J. Bents | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, United States | BMC Infectious Diseases | 41 | 10.1186/s12879-024-09965-y |
| 4 | Mosquitoes provide a transmission route between possums and humans for Buruli ulcer in southeastern Australia | Peter T Mee, Andrew H Buultjens, Jane Oliver, Karen Brown, Jodie C Crowder, Jessica L Porter, Emma C Hobbs, Louise M Judd, George Taiaroa, Natsuda Puttharak, Deborah A Williamson, Kim R Blasdell, Ee Laine Tay, Rebecca Feldman, Mutizwa Odwell Muzari, Chris Sanders, Stuart Larsen, Simon R Crouch, Paul D R Johnson, John R Wallace, David J Price, Ary A Hoffmann, Katherine B Gibney, Timothy P Stinear, Stacey E Lynch | Peter T. Mee, Timothy P. Stinear | Agriculture Victoria, Australia | Nature Microbiology | 39 | 10.1038/s41564-023-01553-1 |
| 5 | CD4+ T cells re-wire granuloma cellularity and regulatory networks to promote immunomodulation following Mtb reinfection | Joshua D Bromley, Sharie Keanne C Ganchua, Sarah K Nyquist, Pauline Maiello, Michael Chao, H Jacob Borish, Mark Rodgers, Jaime Tomko, Kara Kracinovsky, Douaa Mugahid, Son Nguyen, Qianchang Dennis Wang, Jacob M Rosenberg, Edwin C Klein, Hannah P Gideon, Roisin Floyd-O'Sullivan, Bonnie Berger, Charles A Scanga, Philana Ling Lin, Sarah M Fortune, Alex K Shalek, JoAnne L Flynn | Sarah M. Fortune, Alex K. Shalek, JoAnne L. Flynn | Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, United States | Immunity | 35 | 10.1016/j.immuni.2024.08.002 |
| 6 | 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, Huang Huang, Krystle K Q Yu, Malisa T Smith, Yiran E Liu, Chuangqi Wang, Sanjana Gupta, Gerlinde Obermoser, Holden Terry Maecker, Akshaya Krishnan, Sundari Suresh, Neha Gupta, Mary Rieck, Peter Acs, Mustafa Ghanizada, Shin-Heng Chiou, Purvesh Khatri, W Henry Boom, Thomas R Hawn, Catherine M Stein, Harriet Mayanja-Kizza, Mark M Davis, Chetan Seshadri | Mark M. Davis, Chetan Seshadri | Stanford University, United States | Nature Immunology | 32 | 10.1038/s41590-024-01897-8 |
| 7 | Propionate prevents loss of the PDIM virulence lipid in Mycobacterium tuberculosis | Claire V Mulholland, Thomas J Wiggins, Jinhua Cui, Catherine Vilchèze, Saranathan Rajagopalan, Michael W Shultis, Esmeralda Z Reyes-Fernández, William R Jacobs, Michael Berney | Michael Berney | Albert Einstein College of Medicine, United States | Nature Microbiology | 32 | 10.1038/s41564-024-01697-8 |
| 8 | Newly Identified <i>Mycobacterium africanum</i> Lineage 10, Central Africa | Christophe Guyeux, Gaetan Senelle, Adrien Le Meur, Philip Supply, Cyril Gaudin, Jody E Phelan, Taane G Clark, Leen Rigouts, Bouke de Jong, Christophe Sola, Guislaine Refrégier | Christophe Guyeux | Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, France | Emerging infectious diseases | 31 | 10.3201/eid3003.231466 |
| 9 | Pathogenic role for CD101-negative neutrophils in the type I interferon-mediated immunopathogenesis of tuberculosis | Mohd Saqib, Shreya Das, Tanvir N Nafiz, Elizabeth McDonough, Poornima Sankar, Lokesh K Mishra, Ximeng Zhang, Yi Cai, Selvakumar Subbian, Bibhuti B Mishra | Bibhuti B. Mishra | Albany Medical College, United States | Cell Reports | 29 | 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115072 |
| 10 | A first-in-class leucyl-tRNA synthetase inhibitor, ganfeborole, for rifampicin-susceptible tuberculosis: a phase 2a open-label, randomized trial | Andreas H Diacon, Clifton E Barry, Alex Carlton, Ray Y Chen, Matt Davies, Veronique de Jager, Kim Fletcher, Gavin C K W Koh, Irina Kontsevaya, Jan Heyckendorf, Christoph Lange, Maja Reimann, Sophie L Penman, Rhona Scott, Gareth Maher-Edwards, Simon Tiberi, Georgios Vlasakakis, Caryn M Upton, David Barros Aguirre | David Barros-Aguirre | TASK, South Africa | Nature Medicine | 28 | 10.1038/s41591-024-02829-7 |
| 11 | Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence lipid PDIM inhibits autophagy in mice | Ekansh Mittal, G V R Krishna Prasad, Sandeep Upadhyay, Jully Sadadiwala, Andrew J Olive, Guozhe Yang, Christopher M Sassetti, Jennifer A Philips | Ekansh Mittal, Jennifer A. Philips | Washington University, United States | Nature Microbiology | 28 | 10.1038/s41564-024-01797-5 |
| 12 | Quantitative measurement of antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis reveals genetic determinants of resistance and susceptibility in a target gene approach | CRyPTIC Consortium | Joshua Carter | Research Center Borstel, Germany | Nature Communications | 27 | 10.1038/s41467-023-44325-5 |
| 13 | Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis | Dika Apriliana Wulandari, Yeni Wahyuni Hartati, Abdullahi Umar Ibrahim, Dian Ayu Eka Pitaloka, Irkham | Irkham Irkham | Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia | Clinica Chimica Acta | 27 | 10.1016/j.cca.2024.119701 |
| 14 | Identification of bacterial determinants of tuberculosis infection and treatment outcomes: a phenogenomic analysis of clinical strains | Sydney Stanley, Caitlin N Spaulding, Qingyun Liu, Michael R Chase, Dang Thi Minh Ha, Phan Vuong Khac Thai, Nguyen Huu Lan, Do Dang Anh Thu, Nguyen Le Quang, Jessica Brown, Nathan D Hicks, Xin Wang, Maximillian Marin, Nicole C Howard, Andrew J Vickers, Wiktor M Karpinski, Michael C Chao, Maha R Farhat, Maxine Caws, Sarah J Dunstan, Nguyen Thuy Thuong Thuong, Sarah M Fortune | Sydney Stanley | Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, United States | The Lancet Microbe | 26 | 10.1016/s2666-5247(24)00022-3 |
| 15 | Clinical Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing for Diagnosis of Central Nervous System Infections: Advances and Challenges | LingHui David Su, Charles Y Chiu, David Gaston, Catherine A Hogan, Steve Miller, Dennis W Simon, Kiran T Thakur, Shangxin Yang, Anne Piantadosi | Anne Piantadosi | British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Canada | Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy | 25 | 10.1007/s40291-024-00727-9 |
| 16 | Metabolically active neutrophils represent a permissive niche for Mycobacterium tuberculosis | J. Tucker Andrews, Zijing Zhang, Gauri Prasad, Fischer Huey, Evgeniya V. Nazarova, Jocelyn Wang, Ananya Ranaraja, Tiffany Weinkopff, Lin‐Xi Li, Shengyu Mu, Michael J. Birrer, Stanley Ching‐Cheng Huang, Nan Zhang, Rafael J. Argüello, Jennifer A. Philips, Joshua T. Mattila, Lu Huang | Lu Huang | University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, United States | Mucosal Immunology | 24 | 10.1016/j.mucimm.2024.05.007 |
| 17 | The catalogue of Mycobacterium tuberculosis mutations associated with drug resistance to 12 drugs in China from a nationwide survey: a genomic analysis | Shaojun Pei, Zexuan Song, Wei Yang, Wencong He, Xichao Ou, Bing Zhao, Ping He, Yang Zhou, Hui Xia, Shengfen Wang, Zhongwei Jia, Timothy M Walker, Yanlin Zhao | Zhongwei Jia, A Sarah Walker, Yanlin Zhao | Peking University, China | The Lancet Microbe | 24 | 10.1016/s2666-5247(24)00131-9 |
| 18 | Compensatory evolution in NusG improves fitness of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis | Kathryn A Eckartt, Madeleine Delbeau, Vanisha Munsamy-Govender, Michael A DeJesus, Zachary A Azadian, Abhijna K Reddy, Joshua Chandanani, Nicholas C Poulton, Stefany Quiñones-Garcia, Barbara Bosch, Robert Landick, Elizabeth A Campbell, Jeremy M Rock | Elizabeth A. Campbell, Jeremy M. Rock | The Rockefeller University, United States | Nature | 22 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07206-5 |
| 19 | Five-Year Outcomes among U.S. Bronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry Patients | Timothy R Aksamit, Nicholas Locantore, Doreen Addrizzo-Harris, Juzar Ali, Alan Barker, Ashwin Basavaraj, Megan Behrman, Amanda E Brunton, Sarah Chalmers, Radmila Choate, Nathan C Dean, Angela DiMango, David Fraulino, Margaret M Johnson, Nicole C Lapinel, Diego J Maselli, Pamela J McShane, Mark L Metersky, Bruce E Miller, Edward T Naureckas, Anne E O'Donnell, Kenneth N Olivier, Elly Prusinowski, Marcos I Restrepo, Christopher J Richards, Gloria Rhyne, Andreas Schmid, George M Solomon, Ruth Tal-Singer, Byron Thomashow, Gregory Tino, Kevin Tsui, Sumith Abraham Varghese, Heather E Warren, Kevin Winthrop, Beth Shoshanna Zha | Timothy R Aksamit | COPD Foundation, United States | American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine | 22 | 10.1164/rccm.202307-1165oc |
| 20 | 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, Angelique K Luabeya, Rane B Dragovich, Alaina M Olson, Katherine A Lochner, Kris M Weigel, Renée Codsi, Humphrey Mulenga, Margaretha de Vos, Mikashmi Kohli, Adam Penn-Nicholson, Mark Hatherill, Gerard A Cangelosi | Rachel C Wood | University of Washington, United States | Journal of Clinical Microbiology | 22 | 10.1128/jcm.00019-24 |

## Topic trends

### 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*

### 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*

## 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.

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
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