The Evolution of Foodborne Pathogens in the 4.0 Era: A Food Safety Perspective

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 45

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor Assistant
1. Food Molecular Microbiology Laboratory (LABMMA), Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Boa Esperança Avenue, Cuiabá 78060-900, Brazil
2. Tecnology Center (IQ), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Horacio Macedo Avenue, Rio de Janeiro 21941-999, Brazil
Interests: food safety; microbiology; Escherichia coli; STEC; heat shock genes; meat products

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Food Molecular Microbiology Laboratory (LabMMA), Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Boa Esperança Avenue, Cuiabá 78060-900, MT, Brazil
Interests: foodborne bacterial characterization using genomic approach
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Biochemistry Postgraduate Program (PPGBq), Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Avenida Athos da Silveira Ramos, nº 149, Bloco A—Mezanino Sala 526, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2. Centro de Tecnologia, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro CEP 21941-999, Brazil
Interests: applied microbiology; drug resistance; bioinformatics; genomic
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Food Molecular Microbiology Laboratory (LABMMA), Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Boa Esperança Avenue, Cuiabá 78060-900, MT, Brazil
Interests: foodborne bacterial characterization using genomic approach
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on technological advances for monitoring, detecting, and controlling pathogenic microorganisms in the Food Safety 4.0 Era. The 4.0 Era, characterized by artificial intelligence, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT), is revolutionizing and accelerating food safety systems, making them faster, more accurate, and more accessible.

Recent advances in this area focus on research using molecular microbiology, genetics, and in silico tools, such as bioinformatics, to identify and characterize evolving and persistent pathogens in the food chain. For example, tools such as genome sequencing, CRISPR, and other techniques are combined with computational tools that allow an extensive data set to be analyzed, making it possible to trace these pathogens. In this context, the development of studies focused on characterizing these populations gains relevance, especially in response to constant outbreaks of bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi capable of overcoming emerging technological challenges. Furthermore, the genetic characterization of these populations is a global challenge due to the widespread antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in pathogenic bacteria. Hence, the technological advances that accompany Era 4.0 are crucial to elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pathogens as science and technology advance. Therefore, we invite researchers and experts in the field to contribute their work to this Special Issue, providing valuable information on the future of food safety and pathogen control in the 4.0 Era.

Dr. Maxsueli Machado
Guest Editor Assistant

Dr. Eduardo Eustáquio de Souza Figueiredo
Dr. Pedro Panzenhagen
Dr. Vinicius Silva Castro
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

  • food Safety
  • foodborne pathogens
  • whole-genome sequencing (WGS)
  • proteomics
  • CRISPR technology
  • infectious disease outbreaks
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • genomics
  • public health surveillance
  • pathogen evolution

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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