Microbial Genetics and Biosynthesis

Dear Colleagues,

Microbial small molecules often have potent biological activities, e.g., anti-infective, anticancer, and immunosuppressive activities, and mediator substances during microbe–microbe or host–microbe interactions. The increasing number of genome sequences has virtually advanced any microbial research area, including (i) the discovery of novel biosynthetic gene clusters and their products, (ii) new biosynthetic pathways and enzymatic mechanisms as well as intricate and fascinating regulatory elements, (iii) novel mechanisms of resistance to anti-infectives, (iv) new approaches to the yield improvement of microbial products, and (v) microbial ecology. 

Published genomes have also opened the door to strain prioritization. Researchers were previously limited to one or two strains for biosynthetic studies. Now, alternative strains can be found by genomic comparative analysis and further investigated to establish a better model system. Interestingly, we could look for a better system in nature (by strain isolation, screening, and genome sequencing). Coupled with the continuous development of bioinformatic tools and biosynthetic knowledge, strain prioritization is on an upward trajectory to the discovery of molecular analogues with more potent bioactivities and/or more stable during isolation.

To contribute to the research areas mentioned above, this Special Issue will cover (but is not be limited to) the following topics:

• Novel microbial strains as producers of bioactive small molecules;
• Microbial genomes as a source of inspiration in synthetic biology;
• Hidden treasures of molecular sciences unveiled by genome mining;
• Method development in genome sequencing and analysis;
• Microbial genomes as an essential tool for microbe–microbe or host–microbe interaction studies.

We look forward to your manuscript submission in the form of original research articles or reviews.

Dr. Hindra Hindra
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. SynBio is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1000 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.

• secondary metabolism
• biosynthetic genes
• phylogenetic
• fermentation
• titer or yield
• specialized metabolites
• signaling molecules
• long-read sequencing
• heterologous expression
• induction/stimulation/activation