Microbial Diversity in Extreme Environments: Implications for Ecological and Applicative Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting you to consider submitting a manuscript to Diversity for a Special Issue on “Microbial Diversity in Extreme Environments: implications for ecological and applicative perspectives”. Extreme environmental niches are characterized by physical and chemical conditions (e.g., low or high temperatures, high ionic strength and/or pressure, lack of sunlight, absence of water, low or high pH values, high level of radiation) that, alone or in combination, are hard to tolerate for most known life forms. Such hostile environments are inhabited by extremophiles (e.g., psychrophiles and thermophiles, halophiles, acidophiles and alkalophiles, piezophiles) that are able to not only survive, but also thrive in different ecosystems thanks to the development of adaptation strategies, involving diverse structural, physiological and metabolic modifications, and also symbiotic associations. Are these life forms adapted to or unique to extreme environments? The application of modern advanced techniques in molecular biology is revealing unexpected high levels of microbial diversity and complexity in extreme environments. Extreme environments represent natural laboratories to investigate the effects of climate changes on the biota and microbiota. Searching for novel extremophiles is largely stimulating the industry’s interest, as molecules from these microorganisms could be transformed into valuable biotechnological compounds.

For this Special Issue, we are looking for experimental studies, reviews, and distributional surveys relating to any aspect of microbial diversity, including the origin of life, ecology, astrobiology, molecular biology, physiology, and biotechnology, related to eukaryotes and prokaryotes in extreme environments. This Special Issue also serves as a memorial to Dr. Luigi Michaud (1974–2014), in recognition of his passion for and contribution to the microbiology of extreme environments.

Thank you for your consideration.

Dr. Angelina Lo Giudice
Prof. Concetta Gugliandolo
Guest 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. 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 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. Diversity 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 2100 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.