About this Research Topic
An ever-increasing demand for biofuels and bio-based commodities has triggered research and innovation in environmental microbiology. This has led to the optimization of various production approaches and has also invoked the attention of governments, industry, and research institutions globally. Production of value-added products (such as biofuels, enzymes, pigments, nutraceuticals, metabolites, bioproducts, composts etc) from waste requires a coordinated metabolic activity of diverse types of microbes. Optimization and the thorough understanding of the cellular metabolic pathways leading to the product of interest, should be well understood. The challenges lie in the accessibility of the sugars present in the lignocellulosic biomass; there are then metabolized by microbes and subsequently transformed into desired products. This also applies to increasing the effectiveness of microbiological biodegradation and biotransformation of keratin waste (which is difficult to biodegrade) to obtain the desired bioproducts. Along with methods to harness the rich growth substrates in the biomass, studies to decipher the metabolic intermediates during the overall production process need to be thoroughly conducted. Additionally, the roles of various enzymes and biochemical pathways also need attention as they have still not been adequately explored.
Currently, biological methods of waste management with the involvement of microorganisms are increasingly being considered as more useful in the fight against environmental pollution than physicochemical methods. Hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass and treatment of other animal/ industrial waste is a bottleneck in its industrial use and often affects yield efficiency. Shifts in metabolic pathways and enzymatic production give insights on the metabolic state of microbes. Therefore, for the successful performance of microbial systems, understanding their cellular processes is as important as designing techniques for pre-treatment and hydrolysis of the biomass and microbial biodegradation and biotransformation of plant and keratin waste biomass. Genetic engineering or metabolic engineering is an upcoming area which promises significant enhancement of value-added commodities via intelligent modifications of microbial systems.
This Research Topic will accept submissions on the following:
• Aspects of the breakdown of biomass and the study of bioprocesses to produce value-added products using lignocellulosic and keratin waste as substrates
• Technologies involved in the major areas of pre-treatment, fermentation and composting, and genomics/proteomics/metabolomics studies (provided they are hypothesis driven)
• Studies with additional emphasis on the functioning of microbial systems leading to improvisations and optimization of the bioprocesses involved during the production of value-added products, would be ideal for submissions to this topic
• Established protocols for rapid and accurate quantification of total sugars obtained from waste biomass may also be accepted
Please note that all submissions should by hypothesis driven and within the scope of the Microbiotechnology section.
Currently, biological methods of waste management with the involvement of microorganisms are increasingly being considered as more useful in the fight against environmental pollution than physicochemical methods. Hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass and treatment of other animal/ industrial waste is a bottleneck in its industrial use and often affects yield efficiency. Shifts in metabolic pathways and enzymatic production give insights on the metabolic state of microbes. Therefore, for the successful performance of microbial systems, understanding their cellular processes is as important as designing techniques for pre-treatment and hydrolysis of the biomass and microbial biodegradation and biotransformation of plant and keratin waste biomass. Genetic engineering or metabolic engineering is an upcoming area which promises significant enhancement of value-added commodities via intelligent modifications of microbial systems.
This Research Topic will accept submissions on the following:
• Aspects of the breakdown of biomass and the study of bioprocesses to produce value-added products using lignocellulosic and keratin waste as substrates
• Technologies involved in the major areas of pre-treatment, fermentation and composting, and genomics/proteomics/metabolomics studies (provided they are hypothesis driven)
• Studies with additional emphasis on the functioning of microbial systems leading to improvisations and optimization of the bioprocesses involved during the production of value-added products, would be ideal for submissions to this topic
• Established protocols for rapid and accurate quantification of total sugars obtained from waste biomass may also be accepted
Please note that all submissions should by hypothesis driven and within the scope of the Microbiotechnology section.
Keywords: waste, enzymes, chemical, metabolic pathways, compost, bioproducts, environmental protection, biomass, biodegradation, biotransformation, waste management, microorganisms, microbial metabolites
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
