Microbial Cell Factories for Natural Products

Dear Colleagues,

Microorganisms, in some way, are considered microbial cell factories and can aid in the production of natural products with applications in pharmaceuticals (human and animal health), agriculture, food, feed, cosmetics, and industry. Advances in microbial biotechnology, from classical strain selection to sophisticated metabolic engineering approaches boosted by synthetic biology methodologies, have significantly expanded the diversity, yield, and profit of bio-based compounds. These include primary and secondary metabolites that result in a diverse array of compounds such as antibiotics, biofertilizers, carotenoids, colorants, enzymes, immunosuppressants, proteins, or steroids, among others. At present, the development of high-throughput omics technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) is providing unprecedented insights into microbial metabolism, enhancing the selection, improvement, and optimization of industrial strains. Moreover, emerging metaomics approaches, such as metagenomics, metataxonomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics, in many cases assisted by AI, are also widening the scope of applications from novel biological data sources. As can be seen from the information presented above, microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and yeasts), themselves or as microbial platforms, continue to evolve as powerful tools for sustainable bioproduction through rational engineering approaches or by means of non engineered adaptive strategies. As part of the Topics Project, this Special Issue invites submissions of research articles, reviews, and perspectives covering both fundamental and applied aspects of microbial cell factories for natural products. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Strain selection and improvement strategies, including adaptive evolution and genome editing.
• Metabolic and synthetic biology approaches for pathway optimization.
• Omics-driven discovery and enhancement of microbial producers.
• Fermentation strategies and bioprocess optimization.
• Industrial applications of microbial cell factories for clinical, agricultural, food, feed, and cosmetics applications.
• Downstream processes to enhance the yield and quality of the products.

We also welcome contributions that explore new microbial platforms, innovative production strategies, and interdisciplinary approaches to enhance the biosynthesis of high-value natural products.

Dr. Carlos Barreiro
Dr. Ana Ibáñez
Dr. José L. Barredo
Topic Editors