Natural Antimicrobial Agents
A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 12
Special Issue Editor
Interests: nutrition-Infection; epidemiology; parasitology; microbiology; pharmacology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Natural antimicrobial agents are substances sourced from nature, including plants, animals, and microorganisms, that can inhibit the growth of or kill harmful bacteria, fungi, and viruses. These agents can be produced from renewable resources, making them a sustainable alternative to synthetic preservatives.
Current research focuses on identifying the most promising natural compounds and understanding the mechanisms involved in treating bacterial infections (both Gram-negative and Gram-positive), fungal infections (such as Candida spp.), and viral infections (including herpes simplex virus, influenza A, and hepatitis A virus).
Notable agents being studied include novel antibacterial compounds like flavonoids, alkaloids, essential oils, and bacteriophage-encoded lysins. These agents work by disrupting cell walls, preventing biofilm formation, inhibiting efflux pumps, affecting DNA functions, or interfering with protein synthesis.
In the realm of antifungals, new compounds such as rezafungin, ibrexafungerp, and mandimycin are being explored for their ability to damage protein and nucleic acid synthesis or to interfere with entry mechanisms. For antiviral treatments, agents like spirocyclic thiopyrimidinone and isorhamnetin are being investigated for their capacity to inhibit viral adsorption, replication, and assembly.
Future directions for research should include assessing the safety and efficacy of these natural compounds in humans. Additionally, combining natural compounds with conventional antibiotics may offer synergistic effects and help to reduce side effects.
Based on this, this Special Issue will serve to showcase recent or new advancements in identifying, characterizing, and understanding the mechanisms of action of natural compounds with antimicrobial properties.
Therefore, we invite submissions of original research manuscripts that offer new insights into natural antimicrobial agents.
Dr. Luis Quihui Cota
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. Pathogens 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 2200 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
- natural antimicrobial agents
- bacteria
- viruses
- fungi
- infections
- novel mechanisms
- treatments
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