Dear Colleagues,

The new circular bio-based economy explores the full potential of all types of sustainably sourced biomass, crop residues, industrial side-streams, and wastes by transforming them into a wide spectrum of value-added products. The development of large-scale bioprocesses for the bioconversion of biomass resources into environmentally friendly biofuels, chemicals, and materials is required to answer timeless societal challenges. Cost-effective microbial conversion processes of renewable feedstock into biofuels and biochemicals are of utmost importance for the establishment of a robust bioeconomy. Therefore, the transition to a sustainable bio-based economy requires further scientific research and innovation to reach those goals. Integrated yeast biorefinery processes have recently gained relevance in envisaging the conversion of forest and agro-industrial residues into environmentally friendly products currently produced by the petrochemical industry. For all these reasons, this is a very active and exciting area of R&D.

This Special Issue aims to gather the most recent and original research and review papers on the identification, development, and exploitation of robust, metabolically promising, and genetically engineered yeast strains envisaging the transition to a circular bio-based economy. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a major cell factory for which vast biological knowledge and genetic tools are available. However, the exploitation of non-Saccharomyces yeasts has recently been gaining momentum, making this large and heterogeneous group desirable for the synthesis of a wide range of added-value products.

Papers on the identification, exploitation, and development of robust, metabolically promising, and genetically engineered conventional and non-conventional yeast strains for the production of bioproducts are welcome. Papers exploring functional and comparative genomics analyses for understanding the physiological genomics of yeasts as cell factories and the development of bioprocesses, especially those dedicated to the valorization of bio-residues and production of added value products by yeasts, are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Isabel Sá-Correia
Dr. Naseem A. Gaur
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Journal of Fungi 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 2000 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.

• Yeast Biorefineries in Journal of Fungi (12 articles)