Biotechnological Production of Novel Antimicrobials

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 November 2025 | Viewed by 521

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Technology Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
Interests: biochemical engineering; biocontrol; environmental biotechnology; industrial microbiology; molecular microbiology; bioprocess engineering

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Technology Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
Interests: biochemical engineering; microbial biomass; biofuels; bioactive compounds; bioprocess engineering; waste management

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Technology Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
Interests: biochemical engineering; industrial microbiology; microbial biopesticides; waste management; bioprocess engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The emergence of highly resistant bacteria in clinical, agricultural, and environmental settings presents the leading risk of the 21st century, threatening the global economy and public health. Immediate action in terms of the development of novel antimicrobials as efficient tools in fighting microbes is one of the leading tasks for scientists in the era of antimicrobial resistance. The evolution and spread of novel antibiotic-resistant bacteria are likely to cause the next global pandemic after COVID-19, with estimated mortality rates leading to even 10 million human deaths per annum by 2050. Bacterial strains are constantly evolving mechanisms to combat even last-resort antibiotics, challenging our capacities to find suitable solutions to confront them. In the context of finding answers for this antibiotic crisis, particular focus is given to research relying on biotechnological approaches as powerful techniques for generating compounds with antimicrobial activity. Genetic engineering methods and modifications made on a molecular level are some of the first choices, traditionally employed using bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells for recombinant protein production. In recent years, additional attention has been given to plant expression systems, as well as the application of artificial intelligence for novel chemotype screening. Potent antibiotic producers exist in highly competitive environments, such as plant rhizospheres, biological soil crusts, deep sea hydrothermal vents, marine snow, modern plastispheres; microbial habitants’ battle for survival is based on competitive interactions with other organisms present in the ecosystem.

The Special Issue of Antibiotics encourages the submission of original research papers, short communications, reviews, case reports, and perspectives that will enable a better understanding of various aspects of this topic. It aims to highlight the current state of and future perspectives on the most important questions affecting the future of antimicrobial compound production, including but not limited to the following: producing microorganisms isolation and seletion, genetic modifications and analysis, production parameters definition, the selection of bio-based raw materials, and methods for antimicrobial compounds extraction.

Dr. Vanja Vlajkov
Prof. Dr. Jovana Grahovac
Dr. Ivana Danilov
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Antibiotics 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 2900 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.

Keywords

  • antibiotic resistance
  • biotechnology
  • antimicrobial activity
  • disease outbreak
  • pathogens
  • microorganisms
  • genetic engineering
  • artificial intelligence
  • optimisation
  • biocontrol

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 3335 KiB  
Article
Synergistic Effect of Bacillus and Chitosan: From Flocculation to Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity
by Selena Dmitrović, Nataša Lukić, Ivana Danilov, Vanja Vlajkov, Jovana Grahovac and Aleksandar Jokić
Antibiotics 2025, 14(4), 412; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14040412 - 17 Apr 2025
Viewed by 238
Abstract
Eco-friendly pest management solutions are acknowledged as a crucial element in shaping the future of agriculture through sustainable practices. Achieving the maximum viable cell concentration while being cost-effective is the main goal of the downstream processing for efficient biomass-based microbial biopesticide production. The [...] Read more.
Eco-friendly pest management solutions are acknowledged as a crucial element in shaping the future of agriculture through sustainable practices. Achieving the maximum viable cell concentration while being cost-effective is the main goal of the downstream processing for efficient biomass-based microbial biopesticide production. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of chitosan flocculation in recovering bacterial Bacillus sp. BioSol021 biomass from broth cultivated using fruit juice industrial effluent as a medium, with the hypothesis of the synergistic effect of microbial and biopolymer components in phytopathogen suppression. Second-order polynomial models were used to calculate the influence of chitosan concentration and mixing speed on flocculation efficiency, settling velocity, and antibacterial activity against Aspergillus flavus (i.e., the inhibition zone diameter). The response surface approach, followed by desirability function optimization and the genetic algorithm were applied. The optimal values achieved in this study were 97.18%, 0.0369 mm/s, and 74.00 mm for flocculation efficiency, settling velocity, and inhibition zone diameter, respectively. The obtained results suggest that chitosan can be used as a flocculation agent for effective downstream processing, but also has a positive effect on the final product antimicrobial activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotechnological Production of Novel Antimicrobials)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop