‘Unconventional’ Bacterial Hosts in Biotechnology - A Future Perspective

For decades, microbial hosts such as Esherichia coli and Saccharomyces ceravisae have provided a great deal of solutions for biotechnological processes and products. However, other ‘unconventional’ hosts are proving to be quite useful. For example, Streptomycetes are precious for biotechnological applications, since they produce a plethora of bioactive compounds. Among these biologically active natural products are nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, antitumor agents, enzymes, enzyme inhibitors, and chemotherapeutic agents. On the other hand, Bacillus spp. hold their position as an excellent choice for bacterial host producing industrially relevant recombinant enzymes. To cope with harsh environment typically present in industrial surroundings, highly stable enzymes from extremophilic microorganisms, resistant to extreme levels of temperature, salinity, pH, etc., are the best option. Halophilic bacteria found their biotechnological application beyond environmental preservation, extending to waste management, bioremediation, and even offering alternative treatments for chronic brain diseases.

In the ongoing quest for more sustainable industries for production of a variety of chemicals currently sourced from fossil fuel sources, cyanobacteria are gaining widespread recognition as a viable option. They are the only prokaryotes capable of oxygenic photosynthesis, they do not require arable land for cultivation, many species can be cultured in seawater, they can grow and synthetize valuable bioproducts using minimal nutrients.

The groundbreaking progress achieved through synthetic biology and omics sciences in recent years has facilitated a systematic, data-centric approach for the optimization of bacterial cell factories. It is feasible to uncouple secondary metabolites production from growth, or to reprogram transcriptional regulation, paving the way for the development of advanced bacterial cell factories. Genome editing methods such as CRISPR/Cas technology have demonstrated efficacy in fulfilling the growing demands and broadening the spectrum of chemicals, metabolites, and biomolecules produced by actinobacteria. Beyond their role in de novo biosynthesis of valuable molecules, microorganisms can serve as an outstanding reservoir of biocatalytic elements frequently utilized for converting drug precursors and other bioactive molecules. Both whole cells and enzymes sourced from microorganisms are extensively employed in conducting a diverse array of regio- and stereoselective bioconversions, frequently aimed at enhancing the pharmacological attributes of specific substrate molecules. Once more, the utilization of multi-omics technology has enabled development of many genome-reduced microbial strains that surpass their wild-type counterparts in target enzyme productivity.

The scope of this Research Topic is to highlight the most innovative developments and progresses in biotechnological application of ‘unconventional’ bacterial hosts, describing the different approaches and technologies used in order to utilize their robustness and to improve their efficiency.

We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review and Perspective articles on themes including, but not limited to:

- Synthetic biology and genetic tools for unconventional hosts
- Bioprocess development using Streptomyces, Bacillus, Rhodococcus and other microbial hosts
- Strain improvement trough evolutionary engineering using mutagenesis, genome shuffling, etc.
- Development and optimization of microbial bioprocesses applicable in sustainable development

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This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

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• Case Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
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• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: biotechnology, Streptomyces, Bacillus, cyanobacteria, halotolerance, antibiotic, enzymes, bacterial cell factory

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