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20th anniversary collection

New Content Item2022 marks an exciting milestone for Microbial Cell Factories. We celebrate 20 years of publishing research and timely reviews on the use and investigation of microbial cells as producers of recombinant proteins and natural products, or as catalyzers of biological transformations of industrial interest. Conceived by Founding Editor-in-Chief, Prof Antonio Villaverde (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain) and launched as a fully open access journal by BMC in 2002, Microbial Cell Factories has grown to become the world leading, primary research journal fully focusing on applied microbiology. In this 20th anniversary collection, we present the top twenty most cited publications in the journal (all time, as of January 2022) that demonstrate the lasting impact of the journal on developments in the field.


  1. Microalgae have recently attracted considerable interest worldwide, due to their extensive application potential in the renewable energy, biopharmaceutical, and nutraceutical industries. Microalgae are renewab...

    Authors: Muhammad Imran Khan, Jin Hyuk Shin and Jong Deog Kim
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2018 17:36
    Content type: Review Published on:

  2. The aim of this review is to summarize the effect in host energy metabolism of the production of B group vitamins and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) by commensal, food-grade and probiotic bacteria, which are a...

    Authors: Jean Guy LeBlanc, Florian Chain, Rebeca Martín, Luis G. Bermúdez-Humarán, Stéphanie Courau and Philippe Langella
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2017 16:79
    Content type: Review Published on:

  3. Isolated from a wide range of sources, the genus Paenibacillus comprises bacterial species relevant to humans, animals, plants, and the environment. Many Paenibacillus species can promote crop growth directly via...

    Authors: Elliot Nicholas Grady, Jacqueline MacDonald, Linda Liu, Alex Richman and Ze-Chun Yuan
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2016 15:203
    Content type: Review Published on:

  4. Anaerobic digestion has been widely applied to treat the waste activated sludge from biological wastewater treatment and produce methane for biofuel, which has been one of the most efficient solutions to both ...

    Authors: Jianhua Guo, Yongzhen Peng, Bing-Jie Ni, Xiaoyu Han, Lu Fan and Zhiguo Yuan
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2015 14:33
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. Bacteriocins are heat-stable ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides produced by various bacteria, including food-grade lactic acid bacteria (LAB). These antimicrobial peptides have huge potential as bo...

    Authors: Rodney H Perez, Takeshi Zendo and Kenji Sonomoto
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13(Suppl 1):S3
    Content type: Proceedings Published on:

    This article is part of a Supplement: Volume 13 Supplement 1

  6. Current soil management strategies are mainly dependent on inorganic chemical-based fertilizers, which caused a serious threat to human health and environment. The exploitation of beneficial microbes as a biof...

    Authors: Deepak Bhardwaj, Mohammad Wahid Ansari, Ranjan Kumar Sahoo and Narendra Tuteja
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:66
    Content type: Review Published on:

  8. Omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) provide significant health benefits and this has led to an increased consumption as dietary supplements. Omega-3 fatty acids EPA a...

    Authors: T Catalina Adarme-Vega, David K Y Lim, Matthew Timmins, Felicitas Vernen, Yan Li and Peer M Schenk
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2012 11:96
    Content type: Review Published on:

  9. Production of correctly disulfide bonded proteins to high yields remains a challenge. Recombinant protein expression in Escherichia coli is the popular choice, especially within the research community. While ther...

    Authors: Julie Lobstein, Charlie A Emrich, Chris Jeans, Melinda Faulkner, Paul Riggs and Mehmet Berkmen
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2012 11:753
    Content type: Research Published on:

    The Erratum to this article has been published in Microbial Cell Factories 2016 15:124

  11. Most of the hosts used to produce the 151 recombinant pharmaceuticals so far approved for human use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and/or by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) are microbial cells,...

    Authors: Neus Ferrer-Miralles, Joan Domingo-Espín, José Luis Corchero, Esther Vázquez and Antonio Villaverde
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2009 8:17
    Content type: Review Published on:

  12. Increasing energy costs and environmental concerns have motivated engineering microbes for the production of "second generation" biofuels that have better properties than ethanol.

    Authors: Eric J Steen, Rossana Chan, Nilu Prasad, Samuel Myers, Christopher J Petzold, Alyssa Redding, Mario Ouellet and Jay D Keasling
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2008 7:36
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. Laccases are multi-copper containing oxidases (EC 1.10.3.2), widely distributed in fungi, higher plants and bacteria. Laccase catalyses the oxidation of phenols, polyphenols and anilines by one-electron abstra...

    Authors: Adinarayana Kunamneni, Susana Camarero, Carlos García-Burgos, Francisco J Plou, Antonio Ballesteros and Miguel Alcalde
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2008 7:32
    Content type: Review Published on:

  14. Different species of microorganisms including yeasts, filamentous fungi and bacteria have been used in the past 25 years for the controlled production of foreign proteins of scientific, pharmacological or indu...

    Authors: Brigitte Gasser, Markku Saloheimo, Ursula Rinas, Martin Dragosits, Escarlata Rodríguez-Carmona, Kristin Baumann, Maria Giuliani, Ermenegilda Parrilli, Paola Branduardi, Christine Lang, Danilo Porro, Pau Ferrer, Maria Luisa Tutino, Diethard Mattanovich and Antonio Villaverde
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2008 7:11
    Content type: Review Published on:

  16. The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris has been widely reported as a suitable expression system for heterologous protein production. The use of different phenotypes under PAOX promoter, other alternative promot...

    Authors: Oriol Cos, Ramón Ramón, José Luis Montesinos and Francisco Valero
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2006 5:17
    Content type: Review Published on:

  17. This article describes the use of biofilm reactors for the production of various chemicals by fermentation and wastewater treatment. Biofilm formation is a natural process where microbial cells attach to the s...

    Authors: Nasib Qureshi, Bassam A Annous, Thaddeus C Ezeji, Patrick Karcher and Ian S Maddox
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2005 4:24
    Content type: Review Published on:

  18. Microorganisms are used in large-scale heap or tank aeration processes for the commercial extraction of a variety of metals from their ores or concentrates. These include copper, cobalt, gold and, in the past,...

    Authors: Douglas E Rawlings
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2005 4:13
    Content type: Review Published on: