Stress Response and Tolerance of Food Microbes and Their Novel Control Strategies
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 21 July 2026 | Viewed by 26
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food microbiology; stress response; adaptive mechanisms; non-thermal sterilization technology; food fermentation
Interests: food microbiology; food detection; adaptive mechanisms; microbial control; spore
Interests: microbial food safety of fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, and of fresh and processed meats; non-thermal technologies for pathogen control in foods; microbiome of fruits and vegetables; food irradiation; HACCP systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Food microorganisms encounter various stresses during processing, preservation, and storage. They employ sophisticated mechanisms to sense, adapt to, and even tolerate these conditions. These adaptation strategies can undermine the efficacy of some antimicrobial interventions, potentially leading to elevated public health risks. Hence, a deep understanding of microbial adaptive responses and tolerance mechanisms is crucial for ensuring food safety, quality, and shelf life.
Advances in molecular biology and genomics provide powerful methods for deciphering the intricate networks governing microbial stress response and tolerance. The insights gained are driving the development of innovative and targeted control technologies that are efficient and have minimal impact on food quality. However, despite significant efforts, there is still a considerable burden of microbial contamination and its effective prevention.
Consequently, this Special Issue aims to gather the latest studies that explore microbial adaptation to a wide range of stresses (e.g., heat, acid, cold, osmotic, and oxidative stress), and the underlying molecular mechanisms; predictive modeling of microbial behavior under stress; the development of novel control strategies (e.g., physical technologies, natural antimicrobials); and the impact of microbial adaptability on the efficacy of prevention measures.
Dr. Ning Zhao
Prof. Dr. Lingxia Jiao
Prof. Dr. Alejandro Castillo
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 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. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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
- stress response
- adaptive mechanisms
- foodborne pathogens
- spoilage microorganisms
- microbial tolerance
- control strategies
- non-thermal sterilization technology
- natural preservatives
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