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Topic · Biotechnology

Microbial Metabolism and Applications

Microbial Metabolism and Applications is a research topic within Biotechnology. Science Explorer counts 22k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the chemistry, biology, biosynthesis, and applications of microbial pigments, with a focus on their use as food colorants and their potential biotechnological production. It also delves into the anticancer properties of prodigiosin and other secondary metabolites, particularly from Monascus fungi.

  • Microbial Pigments
  • Biosynthesis
  • Biotechnological Production
  • Food Colorants
  • Anticancer Properties
  • Secondary Metabolites
  • Monascus
  • Prodigiosin
  • Citrinin
  • Fungal Pigments
Research works
22k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+25%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
44% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Microbial Metabolism and Applications

Which countries lead Microbial Metabolism and Applications research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (1.4k and 536 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.4k works
  2. 2 India 536 works
  3. 3 United States 270 works
  4. 4 Indonesia 207 works
  5. 5 Brazil 144 works
  6. 6 South Korea 140 works
  7. 7 Egypt 133 works
  8. 8 Japan 116 works
  9. 9 Iraq 96 works
  10. 10 Thailand 85 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 44.3%India: 17.3%United States: 8.7%Indonesia: 6.7%6 others listed: 23.0%44%largest
China1,374 · 44.3%India536 · 17.3%United States270 · 8.7%Indonesia207 · 6.7%6 others listed713 · 23.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Microbial Metabolism and Applications research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences publishes the most Microbial Metabolism and Applications research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Jiangnan University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesChina 54 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 44 works
  3. 3 Jiangnan UniversityChina 34 works
  4. 4 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 29 works
  5. 5 Beijing Technology and Business UniversityChina 25 works
  6. 6 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 24 works
  7. 7 University of BaghdadIraq 22 works
  8. 8 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 20 works
  9. 9 Nanchang UniversityChina 19 works
  10. 10 Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'EnvironnementFrance 18 works

Who are the leading researchers in Microbial Metabolism and Applications?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Microbial Metabolism and Applications include Jun Wang, Heng Li and Xiaogang Wang.

  1. 1 Jun Wang China 340k citations
  2. 2 Heng Li United States 270k citations
  3. 3 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  4. 4 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran 258k citations
  5. 5 Scott M. Grundy United States 257k citations
  6. 6 Paul M. Ridker United States 233k citations
  7. 7 Didier Raoult France 232k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Microbial Metabolism and Applications?

The most cited paper in Microbial Metabolism and Applications is "Fingerprinting genomes using PCR with arbitrary primers" (John B. Welsh, Michael McClelland, 1990), with 5,224 citations. Next come "Approved Lists of Bacterial Names" (2,597) and "Antibiotics: past, present and future" (2,428).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Fingerprinting genomes using PCR with arbitrary primers John B. Welsh, Michael McClelland · Nucleic Acids Research Open access 1990 5,224
2 Approved Lists of Bacterial Names V. B. D. Skerman, Peter H. A. Sneath, Vicki McGowan · INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY 1980 2,597
3 Antibiotics: past, present and future Matthew I. Hutchings, Andrew W. Truman, Barrie M. Wilkinson · Current Opinion in Microbiology ReviewOpen access Oct 2019 2,428
4 Molecular and Biotechnological Aspects of Microbial Proteases Mala B. Rao, Aparna M. Tanksale, Mohini S. Ghatge et al. · Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews ReviewOpen access Sep 1998 2,283
5 REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSFORMATION IN BACILLUS SUBTILIS Constantine N. Anagnostopoulos, John Spizizen · Journal of Bacteriology Open access May 1961 2,210
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Microbial Metabolism and Applications research done?

The largest centres of Microbial Metabolism and Applications research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Guangzhou (China), Shanghai (China) and Hangzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Wuxi and Haikou.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 206 works
  2. 2 GuangzhouChina 66 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 62 works
  4. 4 HangzhouChina 54 works
  5. 5 WuhanChina 51 works
  6. 6 SeoulSouth Korea 51 works
  7. 7 NanjingChina 50 works
  8. 8 WuxiChina 48 works
  9. 9 ChennaiIndia 40 works
  10. 10 BaghdadIraq 40 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. WuxiCN · 48.0 works11×
  2. HaikouCN · 24.1 works6.1×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Microbial Metabolism and Applications than the world average.

See Microbial Metabolism and Applications on the map

Where is the best place to study Microbial Metabolism and Applications?

Among universities, judged by research, Jiangnan University, Beijing Technology and Business University and Nanchang University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 23.13%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Jiangsu UniversityJiangnan UniversityNanchang UniversityBeijing Technology a…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Jiangnan UniversityChina 88.231.5%14.7×34 +55.7%
2Beijing Technology and Business UniversityChina 83.528.2%29.7×25 +180.3%
3Nanchang UniversityChina 70.329.3%6.3×19 +97.3%
4Jiangsu UniversityChina 58.433.1%2.8×9 +153.7%
5King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 57.915.5%2.9×11 +61.4%
6Sichuan UniversityChina 53.733.1%1.3×12 +27.8%
7Huazhong Agricultural UniversityChina 52.317.0%11.1×15 +6.7%
8Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 51.912.2%4.9×20 +24.0%
9Vellore Institute of Technology UniversityIndia 51.411.4%4.5×17 +76.0%
10Sichuan University of Science and EngineeringChina 50.820.0%19.1×10 +141.1%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Microbial Metabolism and Applications, country by country

Is Microbial Metabolism and Applications research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 25% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Microbial Metabolism and Applications.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Microbial Metabolism and Applications as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.019% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Microbial Metabolism and Applications0.020% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Microbial Metabolism and Applications over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Microbial Metabolism and Applications10.5% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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