Molecular Mechanisms of Microbial Adaptation in Extreme and Stressful Environments
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 57
Special Issue Editor
Interests: microbiology; taxonomy; genomics; radiation resistance: bacteria; yeast; RNASeq; metagenome
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Microorganisms that thrive under extreme or stressful environmental conditions possess highly specialized molecular mechanisms that enable them to survive radiation, desiccation, salinity, temperature extremes, oxidative stress, toxic chemicals, and nutrient limitation. This Special Issue highlights recent advances in understanding these adaptive strategies using integrative molecular, genetic, biochemical, and multi-omics approaches. We welcome studies combining functional experiments with genomics or transcriptomics to reveal mechanistic insights into microbial stress responses, adaptive evolution, and resilience.
Full Special Issue Aim and Scope
Microbial life in extreme or stressful environments—such as high radiation, salinity, desiccation, extreme temperatures, heavy metals, oxidative stress, or anthropogenic disturbances—reveals extraordinary biological strategies for survival. Understanding these mechanisms at a molecular level is essential for progress in environmental microbiology, biotechnology, evolutionary biology, medicine, and astrobiology.
This Special Issue focuses on the mechanistic, experimentally supported foundations of microbial stress tolerance and long-term adaptation. We especially encourage studies that combine genomics or transcriptomics with direct functional evidence, including genetic knockouts, gene expression validation, proteomics, enzymatic assays, or stress-response phenotyping.
We invite original research articles and reviews on the following topics:
- Genomic signatures and metabolic pathways underlying extremophile adaptation
- DNA repair, oxidative stress response, desiccation tolerance, and redox regulation mechanisms;
- Transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and biochemical responses to environmental stressors;
- Experimental validation of stress-related genes or pathways (e.g., gene disruption, overexpression, targeted mutagenesis, protein characterization);
- Adaptive evolution and laboratory-induced stress tolerance studies with molecular analyses;
- Comparative multi-omics revealing functional strategies of stress-tolerant vs. sensitive microorganisms;
- Mechanistic studies on microbial community resilience in extreme natural or contaminated ecosystems;
- Novel microbial taxa from extreme environments that include molecular or functional characterization (beyond descriptive taxonomy);
- Biotechnological applications of extremophile-derived enzymes or stress-response pathways.
This Special Issue welcomes research on bacteria, archaea, fungi, and complex microbial communities, using tools such as whole-genome sequencing, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, proteomics, biochemical assays, structural analysis, synthetic biology approaches, and ecological modelling. Our goal is to highlight high-quality studies that provide true mechanistic insight, combining omics with experimental evidence to advance understanding of how microorganisms adapt to life at the limits offering both fundamental biological knowledge and translational potential for biotechnology and environmental applications.
Dr. Sathiyaraj Srinivasan
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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
- microbial adaptation
- extremophiles
- stress tolerance
- oxidative stress
- DNA repair
- desiccation
- multi-omics
- proteomics
- functional genomics
- biochemical validation
- microbial evolution
- molecular mechanisms
- environmental microbiology
- stress-response pathways
- extremophile enzymes
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