Actinomycetes and Bacillus as Microbial Cell Factories: From Genome Mining to Sustainable Bioprocesses

For decades, Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae have dominated industrial bioproduction. Yet Gram-positive bacteria—particularly actinomycetes such as Streptomyces, and spore-forming Bacillus species—remain unmatched as cell factories for chemically complex, high-value products. Streptomyces and related actinomycetes biosynthesize the majority of clinically used antibiotics, alongside pigments, anticancer agents, enzyme inhibitors, and other bioactive secondary metabolites, while Bacillus spp. are industrial workhorses for the secretion of recombinant enzymes at scale.



Recent advances in genome mining, multi-omics, synthetic biology, and CRISPR-based genome editing have transformed how these hosts are discovered, characterized, and engineered. It is now possible to awaken silent biosynthetic gene clusters, decouple secondary-metabolite production from growth, reprogram transcriptional regulation, and build genome-minimized strains that outperform their wild-type parents. In parallel, these robust hosts are increasingly deployed in eco-biotechnology—valorizing industrial by-products and waste streams into enzymes, biopolymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), and functional bio-based materials—supporting the transition to a circular, sustainable bioeconomy.



This Research Topic aims to capture the most innovative experimental advances in exploiting Streptomyces, Bacillus, and related microbial hosts as cell factories, with emphasis on the strategies and technologies used to unlock their robustness and improve productivity.



Scope — Welcomed Submissions



We welcome Original Research, Methods, Review, Mini Review, and Perspective articles, with a particular emphasis on original experimental data, on themes including but not limited to:

1. Genome mining and discovery of novel biosynthetic gene clusters, enzymes, and bioactive metabolites from actinomycetes and Bacillus;

2. Synthetic biology and genetic toolkits for engineering Streptomyces, Bacillus, Rhodococcus, and related hosts (CRISPR/Cas, promoter/regulator engineering, cluster refactoring);

3. Production of industrially relevant enzymes (e.g. chitinases, hydrolases) and biocatalysis/biotransformation for regio- and stereoselective synthesis;

4. Bioactive secondary metabolites: antibiotics, pigments (e.g. prodigiosin), antitumor and antimicrobial compounds—biosynthesis, titer improvement, and mode of action;

5. Microbial biopolymers (PHAs) and bio-based materials, including waste/by-product valorization and functionalization of textiles and biomaterials;

6. Strain improvement via adaptive laboratory evolution, mutagenesis, genome shuffling, and metabolic engineering;

7. Bioprocess development, scale-up, and optimization for sustainable, industrially viable production;

8. Eco-biotechnology applications: bioremediation, biodegradation, and circular-economy bioprocesses using robust bacterial hosts.



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