Genetic Engineering of Microalgae

Dear Colleagues,

Microalgae provide a wide variety of biomolecules, cellular functions, and physiological characteristics not least due to the great species diversity and the different living conditions within this polyphyletic group of photosynthetic microorganisms. These and other reasons mean that microalgae are common target organisms for genetic modification, ranging from basic research to commercial biotechnological applications. Recent developments in genetic engineering of microalgae have been supported by rapid advances in omics technologies and an increase in methods and tools for gene manipulation, vector construction, transformation, and selection. Even target-specific in vivo modification of the genome has been made possible by chimeric genome-editing tools.

This Special Issue welcomes both reviews and original articles on the genetic engineering of microalgae. Possible contents include but are not limited to systems biology and omics technologies in relation to genetic engineering of microalgae (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics), key tools or elements of genetic engineering (e.g., gene or metabolic pathway design, selectable marker and reporter genes, regulatory elements, transformation techniques, gene silencing, gene knockout, genome editing) and the application of genetic engineering in basic research and industry (e.g., biofuel production, secondary metabolite production, optogenetics).

We eagerly await your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Armin Hallmann
Guest Editor

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