Fungal Biotechnology: Discovery, Biosynthesis, and Translation
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 219
Editors
Interests: fungal biotechnology; endophytic fungi; host–fungus interactions; natural product discovery; omics (genomics, metabolomics); fungal bioconversion product; translational applications; interdisciplinary research
Interests: fungal bioproduction; fungal bioconversion product; plant–microbe interactions; metabolites; plant growth promotion; bioactive natural products
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Fungi are among the most chemically prolific sources of structurally diverse secondary metabolites, underpinning innovation across pharmaceuticals, sustainable agriculture, food-related applications, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, environmental technologies, sustainable design, and advanced materials. Rising global pressures of antimicrobial resistance, emerging infectious diseases, climate-driven agricultural stress, and the demand for sustainable bio-based solutions have intensified interest in fungal-derived compounds and their functional potential. At the same time, advances in analytical chemistry and natural product workflows, including improved extraction and purification strategies, dereplication, and high-resolution LC–MS/MS and NMR, are accelerating the discovery and structural characterization of new fungal metabolites and enabling clearer links between molecular structure and application.
This Special Issue aims to showcase recent advances in the chemistry of fungal secondary metabolites and fungal natural products, including those derived from plant-associated fungi (e.g., endophytes). We welcome high-quality original research and reviews focusing on discovery, structural characterization, chemical synthesis/semisynthesis, biosynthesis-informed chemistry, and translation of fungal metabolites into applications in pharmaceuticals, sustainable agriculture, and materials/consumer products.
Contributions may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Discovery, isolation, purification, and chemical characterization of fungal secondary metabolites.
- Structure elucidation and stereochemical assignment using advanced spectroscopic and analytical techniques (e.g., NMR, HRMS, LC–MS/MS, FTIR, single-crystal X-ray diffraction).
- Dereplication strategies, metabolomics, and metabolite profiling to accelerate natural product discovery.
- Bioactive fungal natural products with therapeutic potential, including anti-resistant antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals, and anti-inflammatory agents.
- Biosynthesis-informed chemistry, including pathway-guided discovery, enzymatic transformations, and strategies enhancing chemical novelty or yield.
- Chemical synthesis, semisynthesis, and structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies of fungal metabolites.
- Biocatalysis and biotransformations using fungal enzymes or whole-cell systems for sustainable chemical production.
- Fungal-derived metabolites and bioproducts for applications in food, nutraceutical, cosmetic, and personal-care industries.
- Functional materials and biomaterials derived from fungal metabolites or mycelium-based systems, with emphasis on chemical properties and performance.
- Formulation science, scale-up chemistry, and application-driven performance evaluation of fungal-derived compounds.
- Critical reviews synthesising emerging advances and translational trends in fungal natural product chemistry.
Dr. Bita Zaferanloo
Dr. Shoji Maehara
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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-anonymized 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
- fungal metabolites
- fungal natural products
- secondary metabolites
- bioactive compounds
- endophytic fungi
- host–fungus interactions
- purification
- structure elucidation
- LC–MS/MS
- spectroscopy
- dereplication
- biosynthetic pathways (chemical perspective)
- biocatalysis
- semisynthesis
- plant growth promotion
- bioprocessing
- biocontrol agents
- biomaterials
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