Microorganisms

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Michael Lakatos

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Guest Editor

Applied Logistics and Polymer Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Carl-Schurz-Str. 10-16, 66953 Pirmasens, Germany
Interests: phylogeny; physiology; ecology of terrestrial; symbiotic microalgae

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cyanobacteria are a highly diverse group of oxygenic photosynthetic prokaryotes that inhabit the most extreme sites of our planet in great abundance. Their phylogeny is under constant revision, and they exhibit a versatile physiology and wide ecological tolerance that can also be applied for biotechnological purposes.

The Special Issue will focus on the combination of phylogenetic, morphological, physiological and ecological aspects. For example, the isolation of new strains, their identification and screening for new active agents and valuable substances, or physiological characterization that explains ecological distribution patterns or opens up potential new applications in biotechnology.

Possible review and research articles could be, for example, the exploitation of terrestrial cyanobacteria in PHB production; the application of cyanobacteria as producers in urban biofilm reactors; the use of novel gene regions for phylogenetic differentiation and better interpretation of taxonomic characters.

In this way, this Special Issue provides an excellent tool for sharing recent advances, in particular for articles that look beyond the narrower horizon and pursue interdisciplinary as well as integrative approaches.
You are very welcome to send contributions concerning a range of aspects related to this topic, including both fundamental and applied research. As the guest editor of this Special Issue, I invite you to submit original articles, review articles, and short communications.

Dr. Michael Lakatos
Guest Editor

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. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. 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 special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Microorganisms 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 2700 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.

Keywords

phylogeny
taxonomy
proteomics
photosynthesis
carbon dioxide sequestration
ecology
environmental interaction
natural compounds
food applications
high-value products

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

18 pages, 6831 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Salty Twins: Salt-Tolerance of Terrestrial Cyanocohniella Strains (Cyanobacteria) and Description of C. rudolphia sp. nov. Point towards a Marine Origin of the Genus and Terrestrial Long Distance Dispersal Patterns

by Patrick Jung, Veronika Sommer, Ulf Karsten and Michael Lakatos

Microorganisms 2022, 10(5), 968; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10050968 - 4 May 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2132

Abstract

The ability to adapt to wide ranges of environmental conditions coupled with their long evolution has allowed cyanobacteria to colonize almost every habitat on Earth. Modern taxonomy tries to track not only this diversification process but also to assign individual cyanobacteria to specific niches. It was our aim to work out a potential niche concept for the genus Cyanocohniella in terms of salt tolerance. We used a strain based on the description of C. rudolphia sp. nov. isolated from a potash tailing pile (Germany) and for comparison C. crotaloides that was isolated from sandy beaches (The Netherlands). The taxonomic position of C. rudolphia sp. nov. was evaluated by phylogenetic analysis and morphological descriptions of its life cycle. Salt tolerance of C. rudolphia sp. nov. and C. crotaloides was monitored with cultivation assays in liquid medium and on sand under salt concentrations ranging from 0% to 12% (1500 mM) NaCl. Optimum growth conditions were detected for both strains at 4% (500 mM) NaCl based on morpho-anatomical and physiological criteria such as photosynthetic yield by chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements. Taking into consideration that all known strains of this genus colonize salty habitats supports our assumption that the genus might have a marine origin but also expands colonization to salty terrestrial habitats. This aspect is further discussed, including the ecological and biotechnological relevance of the data presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrative Phylogeny, Physiology and Ecology of Cyanobacteria)

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Review

Jump to: Research

20 pages, 732 KiB

Open AccessReview

To Die or Not to Die—Regulated Cell Death and Survival in Cyanobacteria

by Natasha S. Barteneva, Ayagoz Meirkhanova, Dmitry Malashenkov and Ivan A. Vorobjev

Microorganisms 2022, 10(8), 1657; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10081657 - 17 Aug 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2597

Abstract

Regulated cell death (RCD) is central to the development, integrity, and functionality of multicellular organisms. In the last decade, evidence has accumulated that RCD is a universal phenomenon in all life domains. Cyanobacteria are of specific interest due to their importance in aquatic and terrestrial habitats and their role as primary producers in global nutrient cycling. Current knowledge on cyanobacterial RCD is based mainly on biochemical and morphological observations, often by methods directly transferred from vertebrate research and with limited understanding of the molecular genetic basis. However, the metabolism of different cyanobacteria groups relies on photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation, whereas mitochondria are the central executioner of cell death in vertebrates. Moreover, cyanobacteria chosen as biological models in RCD studies are mainly colonial or filamentous multicellular organisms. On the other hand, unicellular cyanobacteria have regulated programs of cellular survival (RCS) such as chlorosis and post-chlorosis resuscitation. The co-existence of different genetically regulated programs in cyanobacterial populations may have been a top engine in life diversification. Development of cyanobacteria-specific methods for identification and characterization of RCD and wider use of single-cell analysis combined with intelligent image-based cell sorting and metagenomics would shed more light on the underlying molecular mechanisms and help us to address the complex colonial interactions during these events. In this review, we focus on the functional implications of RCD in cyanobacterial communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrative Phylogeny, Physiology and Ecology of Cyanobacteria)

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