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Food security and sustainability from a microbiology perspective

Editor for Animal Microbiome: Sharon Huws, Queen's University Belfast, UK
Editor for Annals of Microbiology: Francesca Cappitelli, University of Milan, Italy
Editor for Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology: Alexander Steinbüchel, University of Münster, Germany
Editor for Archives of Microbiology: Pankaj Bhatt, PhD, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, Indiana, USA; Ram Prasad, PhD, Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Motihari, India; Javad Sharifi-Rad, PhD, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, , Ecuador; Digvijay Verma, PhD, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India; Muhammad Asif Zahoor, PhD, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan; and Yusuf Akhter, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India
Editors for Current Microbiology: Demelash Areda, Ottawa University, USA; Tingirikar Jagan Mohan Rao, National Institute of Technology, Andhra Pradesh, India, and Deon Neveling, Stellenbosch University, South Africa 
Editor for Environmental Microbiome: Joy Watts, University of Portsmouth, UK 
Editors for Fungal Biology and Biotechnology: Alexander Idnurm, University of Melbourne, Australia, and Vera Meyer, Berlin University of Technology, Germany
Editors for International Microbiology: A. de los Ríos, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Madrid, Spain, and Beatriz Martínez Fernández, IPLA-CSIC, Principado de Asturias, Spain
Editor for Microbial Ecology: Franck Carbonero, Washington State University, Spokane, WA, USA
Editors for Microbiome: Charles Lee, University of Waikato, New Zealand; Victor Carrion, University of Malaga, Spain, and Ian Lidbury, University of Sheffield, UK 
Editor for One Health Outlook: Ab Osterhaus, Research Center of Emerging Infections and Zoonoses, Germany
Editor for Parasites & Vectors: Filipe Dantas-Torres, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil
Editors for Parasitology Research: Una Ryan, Murdoch University, Australia and Julia Walochnik, Molecular Parasitology, University of Vienna, Austria
Editors for Virology Journal: Supriya Chakraborty, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, and Vitantonio Pantaleo, National Research Council, Italy


Submission Opens: 7th June 2023   |  Submission Deadline: 31st March 2024 


Animal Microbiome, Annals of Microbiology, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Archives of Microbiology, Current Microbiology, Environmental Microbiome, Fungal Biology and Biotechnology, International Microbiology, Microbial Ecology, Microbiome, One Health Outlook, Parasites & Vectors, Parasitology Research and Virology Journal are calling for submissions to our Collection on 'Food security and sustainability from a microbiology perspective.'

This collection includes various aspects of maintaining or enhancing food production, sustainability and security from a microbiology perspective.
 

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG2 and SDG3.

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Animal Microbiome
Annals of Microbiology
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
Archives of Microbiology
Current Microbiology
Environmental Microbiome
Fungal Biology and Biotechnology
International Microbiology
Microbial Ecology
Microbiome
One Health Outlook 
Parasites & Vectors
Parasitology Research
Virology Journal

About the collection

Animal Microbiome, Annals of Microbiology, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Archives of Microbiology, Current Microbiology, Environmental Microbiome, Fungal Biology and Biotechnology, International Microbiology, Microbial Ecology, Microbiome, One Health Outlook, Parasites & Vectors, Parasitology Research and Virology Journal are calling for submissions to our Collection on "Food security and sustainability from a microbiology perspective." 

In light of climate change, geopolitical conflicts, economic downturns and human population growth, many questions arise about our future. A major problem society faces is securing food supplies to sustain all people on Earth, which is the focus of the UN’s second Sustainable Development Goal: “Zero Hunger”. This challenge is exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic which may double the number of people suffering from acute hunger. If recent trends continue, the number of people affected by hunger will surpass 840 million by 2030. Profound changes of agriculture and the global food system are needed to nourish people who are hungry today and the additional 2 billion people who will be living on Earth by 2050.
Food security is a complex problem: to maintain agricultural productivity on degrading lands and in the face of water scarcity, or to achieve increased agricultural productivity and sustainable food production, many questions need to be answered and solutions need to be tested and implemented. Various aspects of maintaining or enhancing food production, sustainability and security can be tackled from a microbiology perspective.

In this Collection, we focus on topics related to: 

  1. Foodborne parasites and production animals - a One-Health perspective!
  2. Plant foodborne parasites
  3. Production of food with use of microbes
  4. Maintaining or enhancing crop yields and quality (including mycorrhizas and nitrogen fixing organisms)
  5. Antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance in food production
  6. The role of the microbiome in livestock
  7. Other microbiology/biotechnology solutions to support food security and/or sustainability


Image credit: © sebra / stock.adobe.com

  1. Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) is one of the most important economic and natural resources in Northern Europe. Despite its importance, the endophytic fungal community of the fruits has rarely been investigated...

    Authors: Minh-Phuong Nguyen, Kaisa Lehosmaa, Katalin Toth, Janne J. Koskimäki, Hely Häggman and Anna Maria Pirttilä
    Citation: Environmental Microbiome 2024 19:7
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. The use of antimicrobials in food animal (FA) production is a common practice all over the world, with even greater usage and dependence in the developing world, including Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, th...

    Authors: Timothy Obiebe Jason Odey, Williams Omotola Tanimowo, Kayode Olayinka Afolabi, Iqbal Kabir Jahid and Rine Christopher Reuben
    Citation: International Microbiology 2023 27:462
    Content type: Review Published on:

  3. Asexually developed fungal spores (conidia) are key for the massive proliferation and dispersal of filamentous fungi. Germination of conidia and subsequent formation of a mycelium network give rise to many soc...

    Authors: Sjoerd J. Seekles, Tom van den Brule, Maarten Punt, Jan Dijksterhuis, Mark Arentshorst, Maryam Ijadpanahsaravi, Winfried Roseboom, Gwendolin Meuken, Véronique Ongenae, Jordy Zwerus, Robin A. Ohm, Gertjan Kramer, Han A. B. Wösten, Johannes H. de Winde and Arthur F. J. Ram
    Citation: Fungal Biology and Biotechnology 2023 10:21
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. Fungal bio-control agents (BCA) can minimize use of agro-chemicals while increasing plant productivity and tolerance to biotic-abiotic stressors. Ideally, BCA should tolerate varying environmental conditions t...

    Authors: Mukondeleli N. Ramatsitsi, Mbokota C. Khosa, Chuene V. Mashamaite and Khosi Ramachela
    Citation: Current Microbiology 2023 80:386
    Content type: OriginalPaper Published on:

  5. Leaf-associated microbes play an important role in plant development and response to exogenous stress. Insect herbivores are known to alter the phyllosphere microbiome. However, whether the host plant’s defens...

    Authors: Xinan Li, Chao Wang, Xun Zhu, Vardis Ntoukakis, Tomislav Cernava and Decai Jin
    Citation: Environmental Microbiome 2023 18:78
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. Worms of the nematode genus Trichinella are zoonotic pathogens with a worldwide distribution. The first report of Trichinella on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia was for Trichinella britovi, one of the four s...

    Authors: Ennio Bandino, Maria Angeles Gomez-Morales, Diego Brundu, Manuela Soddu, Alessandra Ludovisi, Piera Angela Cabras, Federica Loi, Antonio Pintore and Edoardo Pozio
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2023 16:323
    Content type: Research Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of Research Article, Review, Correspondence, Methodology, and Brief report papers. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read the submission guidelines of the journal you are submitting to Animal Microbiome, Annals of Microbiology, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Archives of Microbiology, Current Microbiology, Environmental Microbiome, Fungal Biology and Biotechnology, International Microbiology, Microbial Ecology, Microbiome, One Health Outlook, Parasites & Vectors, Parasitology Research and Virology Journal. 

Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Animal Microbiome, Annals of Microbiology, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Archives of Microbiology, Current Microbiology, Environmental Microbiome, Fungal Biology and Biotechnology, International Microbiology, Microbial Ecology, Microbiome, One Health Outlook, Parasites & Vectors, Parasitology Research and Virology Journal. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Food security and sustainability from a microbiology perspective " from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the standard peer-review process of the journal they are considered in Animal Microbiome, Annals of Microbiology, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Archives of Microbiology, Current Microbiology, Environmental Microbiome, Fungal Biology and Biotechnology, International Microbiology, Microbial Ecology, Microbiome, One Health Outlook, Parasites & Vectors, Parasitology Research and Virology Journal, and are subject to BMC and Springer editorial policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.