Current and Future Development of Mycology: The 10th Anniversary of Journal of Fungi

Dear Colleagues,

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Journal of Fungi (JoF), a peer-reviewed, open access journal dedicated to pathogenic fungi, fungal biology, and all aspects of fungal research. Over the past decade, the journal has published more than 5000 papers from over 20,000 authors. Additionally, more than 6,000 reviewers have contributed their expertise to evaluating submissions. We deeply appreciate the invaluable contributions of our editors, authors, and reviewers. Please explore our achievements through the interactive dashboard on our anniversary website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jof/anniversary.

To commemorate this milestone, we are launching a Special Issue covering ten key topics in mycology.

1. Medical Mycology:
   • Addressing antifungal drug resistance and emerging mechanisms of resistance;
   • Developing new antifungal drugs to combat emerging fungal infections;
   • Understanding the mechanisms of fungal pathogenicity;
   • Investigating the role of fungi in chronic diseases.
2. Agricultural Mycology:
   • Developing sustainable biocontrol agents for plant diseases;
   • Improving crop yields through fungal–plant interactions;
   • Understanding the role of fungi in soil health.
3. Environmental Mycology:
   • Studying the role of fungi in carbon cycling and climate change;
   • Investigating fungal diversity in extreme environments;
   • Developing fungal-based bioremediation technologies.
4. Fungal Genomics and Bioinformatics:
   • Sequencing and analyzing fungal genomes to understand their biology;
   • Developing tools for fungal identification and classification;
   • Using genomics to identify new fungal species and bioactive compounds.
5. Fungal Ecology:
   • Studying fungal interactions with other organisms (e.g., plants, animals, bacteria);
   • Understanding the role of fungi in ecosystem functioning;
   • Investigating the impact of human activities on fungal diversity.
6. Fungal Biotechnology:
   • Engineering fungi to produce valuable products (e.g., pharmaceuticals, biofuels);
   • Developing synthetic biology tools for fungal research;
   • Exploring the potential of fungi for biocomputing and biosensing;
   • Producing biofuels and biomaterials from fungal biomass and developing fungal-based enzymes for industrial applications;
   • Utilizing fungi in food and beverage production.
7. Mycotoxins and Fungal Toxins:
   • Investigating the health risks associated with mycotoxins;
   • Developing methods for mycotoxin detection and prevention;
   • Understanding the mechanisms of fungal toxin production.
8. Fungal Evolution and Phylogeny:
   • Reconstructing the evolutionary history of fungi;
   • Understanding the relationships between different fungal groups;
   • Investigating the origins of fungal traits and adaptations.
9. Fungal Biodiversity and Conservation:
   • Documenting fungal diversity and distribution;
   • Assessing the conservation status of fungal species;
   • Developing strategies for fungal conservation.
10. Fungal Signal Transduction and Metabolites
    • Unveiling the signal transduction processes in fungal system;
    • Exploring fungal pathogenesis in terms of cellular and molecular aspects;
    • Discovering new fungal secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds.

These areas represent just a few of the many exciting and important research directions in the field of mycology. As our understanding of fungi continues to grow, we can expect to see even more innovative applications and discoveries in the future.

Prof. Dr. David S. Perlin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.