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Microorganisms
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Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Microbial Molecular Genetics
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Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Microbial Molecular Genetics

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2025 | Viewed by 4462

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Ian Macreadie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora West Campus, PO Box 71, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia
Interests: Alzheimer’s disease; yeast models; ageing; stress responses; drug mechanisms; drug resistance; microbial genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Nick Heng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
Interests: molecular genetics; bioinformatics; genome analysis; antimicrobial proteins (bacteriocins); protein (bio)chemistry; oral microbiomes; next-generation DNA sequencing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microbial molecular genetics focuses on the study of the genetic material and processes in microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa, as well as their regulation and expression. This field plays a critical role in understanding the molecular mechanisms behind microbial functions, including microbial evolution, pathogenesis, and adaptation to different environments. By studying the genetic make-up of microorganisms at the molecular level, researchers can gain insights into how these organisms interact with their environment and how they contribute to human health and disease.

The scope of microbial molecular genetics is vast, covering a wide range of topics such as gene regulation, genetic variation, DNA replication, mutation, recombination and horizontal gene transfer. By studying these processes in microbes, scientists can identify new therapeutic targets to combat infectious diseases and develop novel biotechnology applications in areas such as agriculture, food production and environmental remediation.

This special issue comes from Editorial Board members who have witnessed (or are knowledgeable about) the emergence of this discipline and the transformations that have ensued.  Huge advances have been made! Articles in this issue describe the background to these transformations as well as their impacts.  Some of these advances include the discovery of the genetic code(s), linking genes to their products, advances in DNA and RNA sequencing, whole genome analyses, discovery of enzymes from thermophiles, discovery of the microbiome, and insights into unculturable microbes.

Prof. Dr. Ian Macreadie
Dr. Nick Heng
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 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

  • microbial molecular biology
  • genetics
  • heredity
  • genomes
  • DNA and RNA sequencing
  • gene editing
  • greatest discoveries in biology

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 2464 KiB  
Article
Genomic Characterization of Enterococcus casseliflavus Isolated from Beef Cows and Calves
by Sani-e-Zehra Zaidi, Rahat Zaheer, Athanasios Zovoilis, Jayce Fossen, Gary Van Domselaar, Cheryl Waldner and Tim A. McAllister
Microorganisms 2025, 13(4), 907; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13040907 - 15 Apr 2025
Viewed by 240
Abstract
Enterococcus species are used as One Health indicators of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans, animals, and the environment. A surveillance study in beef cows and calves isolated Enterococcus casseliflavus along with E. faecium, E. faecalis, and E. hirae. Given the [...] Read more.
Enterococcus species are used as One Health indicators of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans, animals, and the environment. A surveillance study in beef cows and calves isolated Enterococcus casseliflavus along with E. faecium, E. faecalis, and E. hirae. Given the high prevalence of E. casseliflavus, we elected to characterize this species to better understand its role in the antimicrobial resistance of enterococci in cows and calves. Almost 12% of E. casseliflavus isolates exhibited multidrug resistance with the majority being resistant to lincomycin (99%), followed by quinupristin–dalfopristin (34%), ciprofloxacin (9.6%), tylosin (4.5%), erythromycin (2.7%), tetracycline (1.8%), tigecycline (1.5%), daptomycin (0.6%), streptomycin (0.3%), and kanamycin (0.3%). All E. casseliflavus were susceptible to chloramphenicol, penicillin, streptomycin, nitrofurantoin, gentamicin, and linezolid. Whole genome antimicrobial resistance gene profiling identified vanC-type intrinsic vancomycin resistance genes in all E. casseliflavus, with the vanC4XYT gene cluster being dominant (67%) followed by vanC2XYT (31%) and vanC3XYT (1.5%). Resistance genes for erythromycin (ermB) and tetracycline (tetM) were rarely identified (2.1% and 1.2%, respectively) within E. casseliflavus genomes. No resistance genes were identified to explain either the quinupristin–dalfopristin or ciprofloxacin resistance in these isolates. A core genome phylogenetic tree revealed two clades that exhibited no distinct association with the age of the host, time of sample collection, or the farm sampled. The open nature of the E. casseliflavus pan-genome highlighted its intraspecies diversity. These findings suggest that E. casseliflavus is likely a low-risk species in terms of contributing to antimicrobial resistance in the cow–calf sector. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Microbial Molecular Genetics)
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16 pages, 3532 KiB  
Article
Molecular and Structural Characterization of an Immunopurified Telomerase from Leishmania major and the Effect of Telomerase Inhibitors
by Riward Campelo Morillo, Liliana Casique, Katherine Figarella and José Luis Ramírez
Microorganisms 2025, 13(2), 357; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020357 - 7 Feb 2025
Viewed by 880
Abstract
Leishmania major is the etiological agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in several countries in Asia and Northern Africa. The disease is considered a zoonotic infection where rodents are the reservoirs and phlebotomine sandflies are the vectors. Once inside the human body, the parasite [...] Read more.
Leishmania major is the etiological agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in several countries in Asia and Northern Africa. The disease is considered a zoonotic infection where rodents are the reservoirs and phlebotomine sandflies are the vectors. Once inside the human body, the parasite multiplies inside the macrophages of infected patients, but the disease eventually cures spontaneously, leaving scars where the phlebotomine bites occurred. Given the importance of the replicative forms in the parasite’s cell cycle, here, we decided to study the enzyme telomerase, which has the critical role of replenishing the chromosomal telomeric ends during cell replication. To this aim, we first conducted partial purification using Sephacryl-300 HR gel filtration, which allowed us to determine that the telomerase activity eluted as a 600 KDa complex. Second, we characterized an immunopurified L. major telomerase, and to try to explain some of our findings, we performed modeling studies using Alfa fold 3, Pyre2, and Swiss Protein Model. Finally, considering the similarity between the catalytic site of Leishmania and Homo sapiens telomerase, we decided to test typical inhibitors of human telomerase on the purified enzyme and promastigote cell forms, confirming that MST-312 and TMPYP4 efficiently inhibited L. major activity and arrested cell growth in Leishmania promastigotes. Our findings confirm the importance of telomerase activity in L. major’s replicative forms and suggest the possibility of using drugs previously tested on human telomerase to treat CL. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Microbial Molecular Genetics)
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18 pages, 4273 KiB  
Article
Sequencing and Analysis of Wolbachia Strains from A and B Supergroups Detected in Sylvatic Mosquitoes from Brazil
by Luísa Maria Inácio da Silva, José Irnaldo da Silva, Alexandre Freitas da Silva, Filipe Zimmer Dezordi, Lais Ceschini Machado, Si Qin, Hang Fan, Yigang Tong, Túlio de Lima Campos, Marcelo Henrique Santos Paiva and Gabriel Luz Wallau
Microorganisms 2024, 12(11), 2206; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12112206 - 31 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1661
Abstract
Wolbachia are endosymbiotic bacteria that infect a wide range of arthropods and filarial nematodes, often manipulating host reproduction. The efficacy of Wolbachia-based interventions for dengue and chikungunya control has been validated through numerous field studies in recent years. This study aimed to [...] Read more.
Wolbachia are endosymbiotic bacteria that infect a wide range of arthropods and filarial nematodes, often manipulating host reproduction. The efficacy of Wolbachia-based interventions for dengue and chikungunya control has been validated through numerous field studies in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the diversity and prevalence of Wolbachia infections in sylvatic mosquitoes from two locations in Recife, Brazil. Multiple mosquito species were screened for Wolbachia using both target marker gene amplification coupled with Sanger sequencing and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) approaches. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted to classify Wolbachia strains into supergroups and assess their evolutionary relationships. Results revealed the presence of Wolbachia in eleven mosquito species examined, with different infection rates. Both supergroups A and B of Wolbachia strains were identified, with Aedes albopictus showing co-infection by both supergroups through the WGS approach. We also detected indirect evidence of Wolbachia horizontal transmission among mosquitoes and other distant host orders. This study provides valuable insights into the distribution and diversity of Wolbachia in sylvatic mosquitoes from Brazil and adds new important data about Wolbachia detection through target marker gene amplicon coupled with Sanger sequencing and WGS methods, highlighting its complementarity to ascertain the presence of Wolbachia in mosquito samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Microbial Molecular Genetics)
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Review

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10 pages, 2028 KiB  
Review
My Early Years of Yeast Mitochondrial Genetics
by Ian G. Macreadie
Microorganisms 2024, 12(10), 2077; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12102077 - 17 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1164
Abstract
There have been massive technological advances in molecular biology and genetics over the past five decades. I have personally experienced these advances and here I reflect on those origins, from my perspective, studying yeast mitochondrial genetics leading up to deciphering the functions of [...] Read more.
There have been massive technological advances in molecular biology and genetics over the past five decades. I have personally experienced these advances and here I reflect on those origins, from my perspective, studying yeast mitochondrial genetics leading up to deciphering the functions of the mitochondrial genome. The yeast contributions commenced in the middle of the last century with pure genetics, correlating mutants with phenotypes, in order to discover genes, just like the early explorations to discover new lands. The quest was to explore the mitochondrial genome and find its genes and their products. It was most fortunate that DNA sequencing technologies became available in the late 1970s, and laboratories were restructured enormously to keep pace with the emerging technologies. There were considerable costs in equipping laboratories, purchasing ultracentrifuges and restriction endonucleases, and undertaking DNA sequencing; additionally, workers required special safety gear. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Microbial Molecular Genetics)
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