Microbial Biosensors for Environmental Monitoring

Dear Colleagues,

The microbial biosensor makes it possible to measure the analyte as a quick, simple, and convenient method. Since Dr. Isao Karube (1942–2020) succeeded in the practical use of the first microbial biosensor for biochemical oxygen demand monitoring in 1983, many kinds of microbial biosensors for environmental monitoring have been studied and developed. To date, various improvements have been made to microbial biosensors in terms of, e.g., sensitivity, reproducibility, stability, specificity, and portability. Especially in the last decade, new and improved techniques have successfully been applied to microbial biosensor developments such as 3D printing for chip/cell/array or device fabrication, genetic engineering for microbial modification, materials science for microbial immobilization or signal detection, new techniques for transducer development, etc.

On the other hand, the global environment is becoming worse year by year, including climate change due to global warming. If we want humanity to survive, we have an obligation to transform our world—which is why in 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit adopted “The 2030 Agenda” and “The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. In this agenda, there are several goals that microbial biosensors are able to contribute to achieving, such as “conservation of water and soil resources”, “preservation of food safety”, etc. Thus, the scope of this Special Issue includes the topics listed below:

• Application to environmental water or wastewater monitoring;
• Application to estimate soil environment or bioremediation;
• Application to agriculture, aquafarming, or aquaponics;
• Micro/nanotechnology and novel materials applied to microbial biosensors;
• Novel designs of chip/cell/array for microbial biosensors;
• Novel instrumentation systems for microbial biosensors;
• New solutions applied in microbial biosensors;
• Interdisciplinary study leading to microbial biosensor development.

This Special Issue aims to highlight the most recent advances of microbial biosensors and participate in the development of microbial biosensors for SDGs efforts toward 2030. Research papers, short communications, and critical reviews are all welcome. If the author is interested in submitting a critical review, it would be helpful to discuss this with the Guest Editor before your submission.

Dr. Hideaki Nakamura
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. Biosensors 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 2200 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.