Guest Editors are inviting to consider submitting a manuscript to “Diversity” for a Special Issue on “Culture Collections as Hidden Sources of Microbial Biomolecules and Biodiversity”.

See the Editorial at https://doi.org/10.3390/d12070264.

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2021.

The application of modern advanced techniques in molecular biology is revealing unexpected high levels of microbial diversity and complexity. However, the invisible loss of microbial diversity in the environment deriving, for example, from global changes and anthropogenic activities, is not really perceived.

In this context, culture collections worldwide has become a valuable resource for the sustainable use of microbial diversity and its conservation. They provide pure cultures and genetic materials that are required for a number of research (including systematics) and teaching purposes, as well as for bioprospecting aims (i.e., the search for novel bioproducts) and their subsequent exploitation in biotechnological fields (e.g., pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, agricultural, and food industries, as well as biorestoration).

For this Special Issue, Guest editors are looking for experimental studies and reviews relating to any aspect of the diversity, physiology, conservation, molecular biology, and biotechnology of prokaryotes and eukaryotes from microbial collections.

Keywords:

• Microbial isolates
• Culture collections
• Biotecnonological value
• Biodiversity conservation

More information about the special issue is available at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/diversity/special_issues/culture_collections.

Guest Editors
Dr. Angelina Lo Giudice, Institute of Polar Sciences (CNR-ISP), National Research Council, Messina, Italy
Dr. Carmen Rizzo, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, National Institute of Biology, Messina, Italy

Call for a special issue on
Microbiota Exploitation for the Development of Innovative and High Added-value Fermented Food

To be published in the journal
Foods (ISSN 2304-8158) IF 4.092

Guest Editors: Dr. Luciana De Vero, Prof. Dr Andrea Pulvirenti, Prof. Dr.Ilaria Mannazzu

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2021.

Fermentation of dairy products, vegetables, cereals, meat, and fish has emerged in human history, almost concomitantly across the different continents, as a strategy for the preservation of raw materials and the production of food and beverages for times of shortage. Since then, humankind has traditionally and empirically utilized fermentation not only for preservation purposes but also for the improvement of the organoleptic properties, texture, digestibility, palatability, and safety of all sorts of food matrices. This has led to the production of a myriad of fermented products that are the result of different cultural preferences and traditions and cover about thirty percent of the human diet, regardless of geographic area and lifestyle.

Nowadays fermentation is widely employed also to enrich food and beverages with beneficial viable microorganisms and/or their metabolites in order to positively impact on human health. This result can be achieved either through the exploitation of the wild microbiota naturally associated to raw materials or as the result of the inoculation of selected starters, and requires the characterization, preservation, management and circulation of microbial diversity.

Keeping into consideration the key words “food microbiota” and “fermentation”, this Special Issue aims to collect original research papers, review articles, and short communications addressing novel and relevant findings on the applications of lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi isolated from food matrices or preserved in culture collections. Of particular interest will be contributions regarding:

1. the characterization, exploitation and preservation of beneficial microbiota for fermented local-food production;
2. the development of high added-value and novel fermented products;
3. the reduction of chemical preservatives in food through the production of natural antimicrobials of microbial origin;
4. the production of bioactive compounds with health promoting activity.

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.

A new review paper from MIRRI-IT partners is out!

We are pleased to inform you that the Open Access review paper
Preservation, Characterization and Exploitation of Microbial Biodiversity: The Perspective of the Italian Network of Culture Collections
by MIRRI-IT partners has been published by the Microorganisms\ journal as part of the Special Issue “Preservation, Characterization and Exploitation of Microbial Biodiversity of Agri-Food and Environmental Interest”.

See the full paper Open Access.

Reference

De Vero L, Boniotti MB, Budroni M, Buzzini P, Cassanelli S, Comunian R, Gullo M, Logrieco AF, Mannazzu I, Musumeci R, Perugini I, Perrone G, Pulvirenti A, Romano P, Turchetti B, Varese GC. Preservation, Characterization and Exploitation of Microbial Biodiversity: The Perspective of the Italian Network of Culture Collections. Microorganisms. 2019; 7(12):685.
doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7120685

Corresponding author

Dr Luciana De Vero, Unimore Microbial Culture Collection, Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy

Abstract

Microorganisms represent most of the biodiversity of living organisms in every ecological habitat. They have profound effects on the functioning of any ecosystem, and therefore on the health of our planet and of human beings.
Moreover, microorganisms are the main protagonists in food, medical and biotech industries, and have several environmental applications.
Accordingly, the characterization and preservation of microbial biodiversity are essential not only for the maintenance of natural ecosystems but also for research purposes and biotechnological exploitation.
In this context, culture collections (CCs) and microbial biological resource centres (mBRCs) are crucial for the safeguarding and circulation of biological resources, as well as for the progress of life sciences.
This review deals with the expertise and services of CCs, in particular concerning preservation and characterization of microbial resources, by pointing to the advanced approaches applied to investigate a huge reservoir of microorganisms.
Data sharing and web services as well as the tight interconnection between CCs and the biotechnological industry are highlighted.
In addition, guidelines and regulations related to quality management systems (QMSs), biosafety and biosecurity issues are discussed according to the perspectives of CCs and mBRCs.

Call for a Special Issue on

“Preservation, Characterization and Exploitation of Microbial Biodiversity of Agri-Food and Environmental Interest”

to be published in the journal

Microorganisms
(ISSN 2076-2607, tracked for IF).

Prepare an original research or review paper to this exciting project.

• Send a short abstract or tentative title to the Editorial Office at microorganisms@mdpi.com by March 20, 2019.
• Submit your manuscript as soon as it is ready, until the deadline of 30 September 2019.

Microorganisms is a newly SCIE indexed journal, and will receive its first ISI Impact Factor in June 2019. An estimated IF is around 3 (or higher). High Visibility is provided by citations available in PubMed and SCIE (http://www.mdpi.com/journal/microorganisms/indexing).

Microorganisms is an open-access journal. A nominal article processing charge of 1000 CHF, covering unlimited length and number of figures, colours included, will be required.

For more information, see: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/microorganisms/special_issues/biodiversity_agri-food_environment.
Authors’ instructions at: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/microorganisms/instructions.
Contact email: imannazzu@uniss.it.

Guest Editors
Ilaria Mannazzu, Marilena Budroni, Giacomo Zara and Severino Zara
Università degli Studi di Sassari, Italy