Microbial Community Structure and Functions in Marine Sediments

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 10

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
Interests: microbial ecology; metagenomics; marine genomics; biogeochemical cycles; deep-sea; extremophiles; microbe-host interactions; ecological networks

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue welcomes original research articles, reviews, and short communications that explore the diversity, structure, and ecological roles of microbial communities in marine sediments. We invite studies that investigate bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic microbial assemblages using culture-dependent or -independent methods, including high-throughput sequencing, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and other omics approaches.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Microbial community dynamics across spatial and temporal gradients.
  • Responses of sediment microbiomes to environmental drivers, such as salinity, oxygen availability, organic matter, and pollution.
  • Microbe-mediated biogeochemical processes in marine and coastal sediments (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, methane, sulfur cycles).
  • The role of microbes in ecosystem functioning and resilience.
  • Microbial interactions and network structures within sediment habitats.
  • Comparative studies between natural and human-impacted systems.
  • Microbial indicators of ecosystem health or environmental change.

Submissions focusing on both continental shelves and deep-sea sediments are encouraged. Both field-based and experimental studies are welcome. This Special Issue aims to advance our understanding of sedimentary microbial ecology and its relevance to global environmental challenges.

Dr. Asunción Lago-Lestón
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Microorganisms 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 2700 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

  • sediment microbiome
  • marine microbial ecology
  • deep-sea sediments
  • coastal sediments
  • biogeochemical cycles
  • metagenomics

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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