Applied, Engineering and Environmental Microbiology and Biofilms

Dear Colleagues, 

We are pleased to invite you to submit your work to this Topical Collection entitled “Applied, Engineering and Environmental Microbiology and Biofilms”. Microbes flourish predominantly in the form of biofilms, as opposed to planktonic cells, by attaching to each other or to a surface and growing in a self-produced matrix that consists of microbial biopolymers including proteins, exopolysaccharides and extracellular DNA. This lifestyle confers distinguished features in bacterial physiology and phenotypes. Biofilms are important for the environment and ecosystem functioning. Beneficial microorganisms form biofilms associated with human, animal and plant hosts. Biofilms can also be engineered for applications in biotechnology. Conversely, most bacterial infections form biofilms, which are often resistant to antimicrobials. Biofilm has negative consequences in many industrial settings. In recent years, there are significant signs of progress in the understanding of biofilm structure, function and applications, as well as the development of new methods and tools for analyzing, engineering and controlling biofilms. This Topical Collection aims to bring together the effort of scientists utilizing diverse approaches to explore the basic and applied research in biofilms. Original research articles, technical notes and reviews, including mini and systematic reviews, are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: 

• Microbiology and biofilm structure, formation, and resilience
• Exopolysaccharides
• Microbiological and biofilm matrix
• Biofilm-associated protein
• Microbiological and biofilm control
• Applications of biofilm-related technologies
• Polymicrobial interaction, quorum sensing and microbial biofilms
• Engineered microbiology and biofilms
• Microbiology and biofilm remediation
• Biofilm and microbial communities
• Omics in microbiology and biofilm study
• Biofilms and antimicrobials
• Microbial growth and biofilm reactors
• Aquatic microbiology and biofilms
• New methods and techniques in microbial biofilms
• Microbiology and biofilms in the food and beverage industries
• Biofilm and materials 

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Gamini Seneviratne
Dr. Yanrui Ye
Dr. Zhenbo Xu
Dr. Guanglei Qiu
Dr. Jing Lin
Prof. Dr. Jian Sun
Collection 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. 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 collection 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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes 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.