It has been a busy September for our production and editorial teams. We are very happy to announce three new thematic issues of FEMS Microbiology Letters. These issues cover the recent advances in each field and have been compiled by a selection of guest editors.
Pseudomonas
The genus Pseudomonas includes not only the important human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but also a range of other important species with relevance to plant pathogenicity, bioremediation and environmental microbiology. It is also a group of organisms used widely for the study of host-pathogen interactions, cell-cell communication systems, evolutionary biology, gene regulation and metabolic networks, secretion systems, antibiotics (and resistance), bioremediation, biofilms, bacterial genomics and other topics of broader relevance to microbiology and molecular biology generally.
Read the full thematic issue on the topic of Pseudomonas, with a collection of articles guest edited by Professor Craig Winstanley, Dr Kendra Rumbaugh, Professor Rob Jackson, and Dr Martin Welch.
Bacterial Protein Secretion
Protein export and secretion are fundamental processes for all forms of life. Secreted or membrane-associated proteins play a crucial role in many functions that are essential for viability and pathogenicity: cell structure maintenance, motility, cell attachment, metabolite transport, cell-cell interactions, and export of toxins. Bacteria transport these proteins out of their cytoplasm, where they are synthesized into their plasma membrane or across it, into the cell envelope or extracellular space. For all these protein export processes, bacteria have an array of various protein translocation pathways at their disposal, also depending on whether they are surrounded by a double or a single membrane bilayer.
The collection highlights several of these transport systems, and our current understanding of their underlying molecular mechanisms. Deeper insight into these mechanisms provide a universal, fundamental understanding of protein trafficking mechanics, as many of the biochemical challenges that exported proteins encounter are shared across life. Such deeper understanding will enable the development of novel antibiotics and vaccines, the ability to combat pathogens through attenuation of virulence, and the improvement of strains and biomaterials for the production of biopharmaceuticals industrial enzymes, bioremediation, biofuel and chemicals production and various other industrial processes.
This thematic issue was guest edited by Jozef Anné, Lily Karamanou, and Tassos Economou to coincide with the FEMS sponsored meeting on Bacterial Protein Trafficking and Secretion, Leuven, Belgium. This meeting will take place from 30 September – 3 October 2018.
New Insights into the Nitrogen Cycle
The nitrogen cycle is one of the most important biogeochemical cycles on the planet, and involves a wide range of nitrogen species and biochemical transformations. As an essential element, nitrogen is critical to crop productivity in agriculture, but many environmental issues – such as production of greenhouse and ozone-depleting gases – are linked to the production of nitrogen fertilizer and its extensive use globally.
This thematic issue is based upon presentations at the 22nd European Nitrogen Cycle Meeting held in Córdoba, Spain, from 24–26 September 2017, and presents 16 articles including Minireviews and Research letters. The collection focuses on new advances in nitrogen cycle research, covering the most relevant pathways of the bacterial nitrogen cycle, including denitrification, nitrification, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia, anaerobic ammonium oxidation, nitrate assimilation and nitrogen fixation.
Guest edited by María Dolores Roldán and David J Richardson.
Check out the entire collection of FEMS Microbiology Letters thematic issues.