Microbial Secondary Metabolites: Biosynthesis, Regulation and Applications
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biosynthesis and chemotaxonomy; chemical ecology; Isolation and characterization of bioactive metabolites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: synthetic biology; metabolic engineering; genetic toolkit design and implementation
Interests: liquid chromatography; metabolomics; differential absorption lidar; biomarkers; hippuric acid; proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy; antioxidant potential; chemical profile
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Microbial secondary metabolites represent one of the most chemically diverse and biologically potent classes of natural products, encompassing antibiotics, antifungals, anticancer agents, pigments, and signaling molecules. Advances in genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics have unveiled a vast, largely untapped biosynthetic potential within bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying their biosynthesis, regulation, and ecological functions is fundamental for both basic and applied microbiology. Moreover, recent developments in synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and bioinformatics now allow the rational activation of silent biosynthetic gene clusters, the design of new metabolic pathways, and the creation of optimized microbial cell factories for sustainable production.
This Special Issue, “Microbial Secondary Metabolites: Biosynthesis, Regulation and Applications,” invites original research articles and comprehensive reviews addressing the discovery, characterization, analysis, and engineering of microbial secondary metabolites. Topics of interest include biosynthetic pathways, regulatory networks, ecological interactions, and novel applications in medicine, agriculture, and industry. By integrating multi-omics data and systems biology tools, this issue aims to highlight innovative strategies that maximize microbial metabolism for the benefit of health, environment, and bioeconomy.
Dr. Fernanda Oliveira das Chagas
Dr. Vincent Bielinski
Dr. Ricardo M. Borges
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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 secondary metabolites
- biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs)
- metabolomics
- synthetic biology
- metabolic engineering
- natural product discovery
- metabolic regulation
- antibiotics and bioactive compounds
- microbial ecology
- biotechnological applications
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