Sustainable Production of Biomaterials and Innovations in Fermentation Processes

A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Fermentation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 428

Special Issue Editor


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Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Interests: agricultural biotechnology; applied microbiology; fermentation engineering; food microbiology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight emerging advances in sustainable biomaterial production and innovative fermentation technologies that enable circular and environmentally responsible solutions. Fermentation and bioprocess engineering are rapidly evolving to address pressing global challenges, including resource scarcity, waste valorization, energy efficiency, and carbon reduction. This Special Issue welcomes original research and reviews on precision fermentation, microbial biomanufacturing, bio-based materials, metabolic engineering, and process optimization that enhance productivity, functionality, and sustainability. Contributions that integrate omics-guided development, AI-assisted design, life-cycle assessment, or industrial scale-up are particularly encouraged.

Within the existing literature, research on biomaterials and fermentation has grown substantially; however, current efforts are often fragmented across fields such as food science, biotechnology, and environmental engineering. This Special Issue aims to bridge these disciplines by providing a focused platform for innovative concepts and translational applications that connect laboratory breakthroughs with real-world industrial implementation. By bringing together interdisciplinary insights, this Special Issue intends to advance scientific knowledge and support the global transition toward greener biomanufacturing systems.

Prof. Dr. Kuan-Chen Cheng
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. Fermentation 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 2100 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

  • sustainable biomanufacturing
  • precision fermentation
  • bio-based materials / biomaterials
  • metabolic engineering
  • waste valorization
  • circular bioeconomy

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 6294 KB  
Article
Efficient Bioconversion of γ-Butyrobetaine to L-Carnitine by a Newly Identified Ensifer Strain: Process Optimization and Multi-Omics Elucidation
by Qi Wei, Pengcheng Chen, Dan Wu and Pu Zheng
Fermentation 2026, 12(5), 240; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation12050240 - 15 May 2026
Viewed by 187
Abstract
L-carnitine is a crucial quaternary ammonium compound widely used in the pharmaceutical, food, and feed industries. Microbial biosynthesis of L-carnitine, compared with chemical synthesis, offers milder conditions, higher stereoselectivity, and a lower environmental impact. However, highly efficient strains and mechanistic insights into the [...] Read more.
L-carnitine is a crucial quaternary ammonium compound widely used in the pharmaceutical, food, and feed industries. Microbial biosynthesis of L-carnitine, compared with chemical synthesis, offers milder conditions, higher stereoselectivity, and a lower environmental impact. However, highly efficient strains and mechanistic insights into the bioconversion of γ-butyrobetaine (γBB) to L-carnitine remain limited. This study focuses on strain WQ-1, a newly screened strain capable of converting γBB to L-carnitine. Based on morphological, physiological, and phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA and housekeeping genes, the strain was identified as Ensifer sp. WQ-1. Under the condition of 30 °C, initial pH 8.5, 10% inoculum, 6 g/L initial γBB, shake-flask fermentation reached molar conversion rate of 88%. In a 5 L bioreactor fed-batch fermentation, the L-carnitine titer achieved 13.98 g/L with a 78.7% molar conversion rate. Genomic analysis revealed a 6.97 Mb genome harboring 6568 protein-coding genes, including candidates for quaternary ammonium transport, CoA-dependent transformation, and transcriptional regulation. Comparative transcriptomics identified 58 differentially expressed genes, highlighting the significant upregulation of genes related to acyl-CoA activation, dehydrogenation, carnitine metabolism, and thioester hydrolysis in the presence of γBB. Multi-omics analyses support a putative CoA-dependent metabolic pathway for conversion of γBB to L-carnitine in Ensifer sp. WQ-1. Full article
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