, January 28, 2026
Regulation of extracellular vesicles for protein secretion in <i>Aspergillus nidulans</i>

Regulation of extracellular vesicles for protein secretion in Aspergillus nidulans

Rebekkah E. Pope1, Patrick Ballmann2, Lisa Whitworth3 and Rolf A. Prade1,*

This study reveals that Aspergillus nidulans boosts extracellular vesicle production when ER-trafficked enzymes are induced, uncovering how fungi remodel their secretome through vesicle-mediated secretion to adapt to changing environments and biofilm formation.

January 23, 2026
Transcriptomic response to different heme sources in <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> epimastigotes

Transcriptomic response to different heme sources in Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes

Evelyn Tevere1,a, María G. Mediavilla1,a, Cecilia B. Di Capua1, Marcelo L. Merli1, Carlos Robello2,3, Luisa Berná2,4 and Julia A. Cricco

This study uncovers how the Chagas disease parasite adapts to changes in heme, an essential molecule for its survival, providing transcriptional clues to heme metabolism and identifying a previously unreported heme-binding protein in T. cruzi.

, January 21, 2026

Sir2 regulates selective autophagy in stationary-phase yeast cells

Ji-In Ryua, Juhye Junga, and Jeong-Yoon Kim

This study establishes Sir2 as a previously unrecognized regulator of selective autophagy during the stationary phase and highlight how cells dynamically control organelle degradation.

, July 18, 2024
Unresolved mystery of cyclic nucleotide second messengers, periplasmic acid phosphatases and bacterial natural competence

Unresolved mystery of cyclic nucleotide second messengers, periplasmic acid phosphatases and bacterial natural competence

Kristina Kronborg and Yong Everett Zhang

In this study we aimed to identify the promotors responsible for the expression of the non-specific acid phosphatase AphA during different starvation conditions, to confirm the requirement of the cAMP-dependent CRP regulon for aphA expression, and to finally identify regulators of its expression.

, June 21, 2024
Expansion of metabolically labelled endocytic organelles and cytoskeletal cell structures in Giardia lamblia using optimised U- ExM protocols

Expansion of metabolically labelled endocytic organelles and cytoskeletal cell structures in Giardia lamblia using optimised U- ExM protocols

Clirim Jetishi1,2,a, Erina A. Balmer1,2,a, Bianca M. Berger1,2,a, Carmen Faso1,3,4 and Torsten Ochsenreiter1

Understanding cellular ultrastructure is tightly bound to microscopic resolution and the ability to identify individual components at that resolution. In this study we demonstrate mostly isotropic 4.5-fold expansion of several different compartments in Giardia cells and present an optimised, shortened, and modular protocol that can be swiftly adjusted to the investigators needs.

, May 22, 2024
Polyadenylated versions of small non-coding RNAs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are degraded by Rrp6p/Rrp47p independent of the core nuclear exosome

Polyadenylated versions of small non-coding RNAs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are degraded by Rrp6p/Rrp47p independent of the core nuclear exosome

Anusha Chaudhuri1,#, Soumita Paul2,#, Mayukh Banerjea2 and Biswadip Das2

In this investigation, we unveiled a novel functional role of the major nuclear 3′→5′ exoribonuclease, Rrp6p, and its cofactor Rrp47p in the degradation of polyadenylated versions of several mature sncRNAs, including 5S, 5.8S rRNAs, all sn- and some select snoRNAs in the baker’s yeast S. cerevisiae.

, May 16, 2024
Exploring carbon source related localization and phosphorylation in the Snf1/Mig1 network using population and single cell-based approaches

Exploring carbon source related localization and phosphorylation in the Snf1/Mig1 network using population and single cell-based approaches

Svenja Braam1, Farida Tripodi2, Linnea Österberg1,3, Sebastian Persson1, Niek Welkenhuysen1, Paola Coccetti2 and Marija Cvijovic1

In this work we set out to explore the relationship between the subcellular localization and regulation of kinases in the context of carbon source signaling. The data presented in this paper reinforce the notion that not only the activation/inactivation of kinases but also their subcellular localization and that of their targets influence fate decisions in response to environmental changes.

, April 30, 2024
A Modular Cloning Toolkit for the production of recombinant proteins in Leishmania tarentolae

A Modular Cloning Toolkit for the production of recombinant proteins in Leishmania tarentolae

Katrin Hieronimus1,2,#, Tabea Donauer1,2,#, Jonas Klein1,#, Bastian Hinkel1,#, Julia Vanessa Spänle1,#, Anna Probst1,#, Justus Niemeyer1,#, Salina Kibrom1, Anna Maria Kiefer1, Luzia Schneider2, Britta Husemann2, Eileen Bischoff2, Sophie Möhring2, Nicolas Bayer1, Dorothée Klein1, Adrian Engels1, Benjamin Gustav Ziehmer2, Julian Stieß3, Pavlo Moroka1, Michael Schroda1, and Marcel Deponte2

Modular Cloning (MoClo) is based on libraries of standardized genetic parts that can be directionally assembled via Golden Gate cloning in one-pot reactions into transcription units and multigene constructs. We established a MoClo toolkit and exemplified its application for the production of recombinant proteins in L. tarentolae.

, April 30, 2024
A metagenomic approach to unveil the association between fecal gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids in diarrhea caused by diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in children

A metagenomic approach to unveil the association between fecal gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids in diarrhea caused by diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in children

Pablo Gallardo1,2, Mariana Izquierdo2, Tomeu Viver3, Esteban Bustos-Caparros3, Dana Piras2, Roberto M. Vidal4, Hermie J.M. Harmsen1 and Mauricio J. Farfan2

Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) is the main cause of diarrhea in children under five years old. The virulence of DEC is tightly regulated by environmental signals influenced by the gut microbiota and its metabolites. Our results increase the knowledge of the association between short chain fatty acids during diarrhea and changes in the microbiota composition associated with the presence of DEC pathogens.

, April 6, 2024
The effect of multiple sclerosis therapy on gut microbiota dysbiosis: a longitudinal prospective study

The effect of multiple sclerosis therapy on gut microbiota dysbiosis: a longitudinal prospective study

Andreea-Cristina Paraschiv1,a, Vitalie Vacaras1,2,a, Cristina Nistor1,2, Cristiana Vacaras3, Stefan Strilciuc1 and Dafin F Muresanu1,2

The gut microbiota, a complex ecosystem with various immune functions, plays a significant role in MS, and its response to different treatments is highlighted in this study. In clinical practice, maintaining a healthy microbiota is crucial for individuals with MS.

, March 14, 2024
Comparison of microbial communities and the profile of sulfate-reducing bacteria in patients with ulcerative colitis and their association with bowel diseases: a pilot study

Comparison of microbial communities and the profile of sulfate-reducing bacteria in patients with ulcerative colitis and their association with bowel diseases: a pilot study

Ivan Kushkevych1, Kristýna Martínková1, Lenka Mráková1, Francesco Giudici2, Simone Baldi2, David Novak3, Márió Gajdács4, Monika Vítězová1, Dani Dordevic5, Amedeo Amedei2 and Simon K.-M. R. Rittmann6

Considerable evidence has accumulated regarding the molecular relationship between gut microbiota (GM) composition and the onset (clinical presentation and prognosis) of ulcerative colitis UC. Our findings highlight, among other observations, significant variations in the gut microbial composition among patients with varying disease severity and activity.

, February 27, 2024
Replicative aging in yeast involves dynamic intron retention patterns associated with mRNA processing/export and protein ubiquitination

Replicative aging in yeast involves dynamic intron retention patterns associated with mRNA processing/export and protein ubiquitination

Jesús Gómez-Montalvo1, Alvaro de Obeso Fernández del Valle1, Luis Fernando De la Cruz Gutiérrez1, Jose Mario Gonzalez-Meljem1 and Christian Quintus Scheckhuber1

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has yielded relevant insights into some of the basic mechanisms of organismal aging. Among these are genomic instability, oxidative stress, caloric restriction and mitochondrial dysfunction. Our work uncovers a previously unexplored layer of the transcriptional program of yeast aging and, more generally, expands the knowledge on the occurrence of alternative splicing in baker´s yeast.

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, January 21, 2020

New insights in the mode of action of anti-leishmanial drugs by using chemical mutagenesis screens coupled to next-generation sequencing

Arijit Bhattacharya1, Sophia Bigot2, Prasad Kottayil Padmanabhan2, Angana Mukherjee2, Adriano Coelho3, Philippe Leprohon2, Barbara Papadopoulou2 and Marc Ouellette2

In this article, the authors comment on the study “Coupling chemical mutagenesis to next generation sequencing for the identification of drug resistance mutations in Leishmania” by Bhattacharya et al. (Nat Commun, 2019), which introduces Mut-seq, a chemical mutagenesis and sequencing approach, to uncover drug resistance mechanisms in Leishmania, revealing links between lipid metabolism genes and miltefosine resistance, and a protein kinase involved in translation conferring paromomycin resistance.

, January 15, 2020

Microfluidic techniques for separation of bacterial cells via taxis

Jyoti P. Gurung1, Murat Gel2,3 and Matthew A. B. Baker1,3

Microfluidic tools, ideal for studying microbial motility due to their control over laminar flows at microscopic scales, enable precise analysis of various taxis behaviors and have advanced applications in synthetic biology, directed evolution, and medical microbiology.

, January 7, 2020

Influence of delivery and feeding mode in oral fungi colonization – a systematic review

Maria Joao Azevedo1,2,3,4, Maria de Lurdes Pereira1,5, Ricardo Araujo2,3,6, Carla Ramalho3,7,8, Egija Zaura4 and Benedita Sampaio-Maia1,2,3

A systematic review of oral fungal colonization in infants found that while breastfeeding did not significantly affect the oral mycobiome, vaginal delivery was associated with higher oral yeast colonization, particularly of Candida albicans.

, January 6, 2020

A holobiont view on thrombosis: unravelling the microbiota’s influence on arterial thrombus growth

Giulia Pontarollo1, Klytaimnistra Kiouptsi1 and Christoph Reinhardt1,2

In this article, the authors comment on the study “The microbiota promotes arterial thrombosis in low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient mice” by Kiouptsi et al. (mBio, 2019) that showed that commensal microbiota, intricately linked to host physiology, may influence cardiovascular disease, as shown by studies using germ-free atherosclerosis-prone mice to examine how microbial presence and diet affect arterial thrombosis and lesion development.

, November 25, 2019

The role of Lactobacillus species in the control of Candida via biotrophic interactions

Isabella Zangl1, Ildiko-Julia Pap2, Christoph Aspöck2 and Christoph Schüller1,3

Microbial communities, including Candida and Lactobacillus species, play a crucial role in human health, particularly in the context of mucosal infections, but our understanding of their interactions and effects is still incomplete due to the variability of species and isolates as well as the complexity of the human host.

, October 19, 2019

Tribal warfare: Commensal Neisseria kill pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae using its DNA

Magdalene So1 and Maria A. Rendón1

This article comments on work published by Kim et al (Cell Host Microbe, 2019), which adds a new dimension to the concept of commensal protection. It shows that commensal Neisseria kill the closely related pathogen N. gonorrhoeae through an unexpected mechanism, one that involves genetic competence, DNA methylation state and recombination.

, October 17, 2019

Yet another job for the bacterial ribosome

Andrea Origi1,2, Ana Natriashivili1,2, Lara Knüpffer1, Clara Fehrenbach1, Kärt Denks1,2, Rosella Asti1 and Hans-Georg Koch1

This article comments on work published by Knüpffer et al (mBio, 2019), which revealed the intricate interaction of uL23 with yet another essential player in bacteria, the ATPase SecA, which is best known for its role during post-translational secretion of proteins across the bacterial SecYEG translocon

, September 27, 2019

Gut microbial metabolites in depression: understanding the biochemical mechanisms

Giorgia Caspani1, Sidney Kennedy2-5, Jane A. Foster6 and Jonathan Swann1

This article shows how the gut microbiota contributes to the pathophysiology of depression and examines the mechanisms by which microbially-derived molecules may influence depressive behavior, highlighting the potential of dietary interventions as novel therapeutic strategies.

, August 21, 2019

The multiple functions of the numerous Chlamydia trachomatis secreted proteins: the tip of the iceberg

Joana N. Bugalhão1 and Luís Jaime Mota1

CThis article shows an in-depth review on the current knowledge and outstanding questions about secreted proteins from Chlamydia trachomatis, detailing their roles in host cell interaction and immune response evasion.

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, August 5, 2021

The long and winding road of reverse genetics in Trypanosoma cruzi

Miguel A. Chiurillo1 and Noelia Lander1

This Editorial provides a brief historic overview that highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the molecular strategies that have been developed to genetically modify Trypanosoma cruzi, emphasizing the future directions of the field.

, April 13, 2021

Means of intracellular communication: touching, kissing, fusing

Anne Spang1

This work highlights different aspects of communication between organelles, including the importance of organellar contact sites.

, April 5, 2021

Neuropathogenesis caused by Trypanosoma brucei, still an enigma to be unveiled

Katherine Figarella1

This Editorial addresses the meningo-encephalitic stage of Trypanosoma brucei infection and the resultig neuropathogenesis as well as the impact that the application of tools developed in the last years in the field of neuroscience will have on the study of neglected tropical diseases.

, March 1, 2021

Lichens – growing greenhouses en miniature

Martin Grube1

This commentary article provides an overview on different aspects of lichen biology and the remarkable symbiotic association between fungi and algae.

, June 22, 2020

Regulation of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore and its effects on aging

Damiano Pellegrino-Coppola1

Aging is linked to mitochondrial function, with the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) playing a key role. Yeast is a useful model for studying how mPTP affects cell survival, aging, and related diseases.

, June 1, 2020

Fungal infections in humans: the silent crisis

Katharina Kainz1, Maria A. Bauer1, Frank Madeo1-3 and Didac Carmona-Gutierrez1

This article highlights the growing global threat of fungal infections – exacerbated by rising drug resistance and medical practices – and emphasizes the urgent need for intensified research to develop more effective antifungal strategies.

, May 4, 2020

Digesting the crisis: autophagy and coronaviruses

Didac Carmona-Gutierrez1, Maria A. Bauer1, Andreas Zimmermann1,2, Katharina Kainz1,
Sebastian J. Hofer1, Guido Kroemer3-7 and Frank Madeo1,2,8

This article reviews the multifaceted role of autophagy in antiviral defense and highlights how coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, interact with this pathway, raising the possibility that targeting autophagy could offer novel therapeutic strategies against COVID-19.

, February 10, 2020

Raman-based sorting of microbial cells to link functions to their genes

Kang Soo Lee1, Michael Wagner2,3 and Roman Stocker1

In this article, the authors comment on the study “An automated Raman-based platform for the sorting of live cells by functional properties” by Lee et al. (Nat Microbiol, 2019), which presents a high-throughput optofluidic platform that integrates Raman microspectroscopy and microfluidics to accurately link microbial phenotypes to genotypes within complex communities, enabling efficient functional sorting and analysis of microbiome members.

, December 17, 2019

Viral attenuation by Endonuclease G during yeast gametogenesis: insights into ancestral roles of programmed cell death?

Jie Gao1, Sabrina Chau1 and Marc D. Meneghini1

This article relates to the study “Meiotic viral attenuation through an ancestral apoptotic pathway” by Gao et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci, 2019), which shows that programmed cell death may have evolved as a viral defence mechanism, as demonstrated by yeast studies showing that the mitochondrial nuclease Nuc1 translocates to the cytosol during meiosis to attenuate dsRNA viruses, linking viral control to meiotic cell death processes.

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Microbial Cell

is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal that publishes exceptionally relevant research works that implement the use of unicellular organisms (and multicellular microorganisms) to understand cellular responses to internal and external stimuli and/or human diseases.

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FAQs

Whether you’re preparing a manuscript, reviewing a paper, or just exploring the journal, this FAQ answers the essentials—from scope and founders to impact and how to submit. Prefer a tailored path? Pick For authors or For reviewers below.

Peer-reviewed, open-access research using unicellular organisms (and multicellular microorganisms) to understand cellular responses and human disease.

The journal (founded in 2014) is led by its Editors-in-Chief Frank Madeo, Didac Carmona-Gutierrez, and Guido Kroemer

Microbial Cell has been publishing original scientific literature since 2014, and from the very beginning has been managed by active scientists through an independent Publishing House (Shared science Publishers). The journal was conceived as a platform to acknowledge the importance of unicellular organisms, both as model systems as well as in the biological context of human health and disease.

Ever since, Microbial Cell has very positively developed and strongly grown into a respected journal in the unicellular research community and even beyond. This scientific impact is reflected in the yearly number of citations obtained by articles published in Microbial Cell, as recorded by the Web of Science (Clarivate, formerly Thomson/Reuters):

The scientific impact of Microbial Cell is also mirrored in a series of milestones:

2015: Microbial Cell is included in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), a selection of developing journals drafted by Clarivate Analytics based on the candidate’s publishing standards, quality, editorial content, and citation data. Note: As an ESCI-selected journal, Microbial Cell is currently being evaluated in a rigorous and long process to determine an inclusion in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), which allows the official calculation of Clarivate Analytics’ impact factor.

2016: Microbial Cell is awarded the so-called DOAJ Seal by the selective Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The DOAJ Seal is an exclusive mark of certification for open access journals granted by DOAJ to journals that adhere to outstanding best practice and achieve an extra high and clear commitment to open access and high publishing standards.

2017: Microbial Cell is included in Pubmed Central (PMC), allowing the archiving of all the journal’s articles in PMC and PubMed.

2019: Microbial Cell is indexed in the prestigious abstract and citation database Scopus after a thorough selection process. This also means that Microbial Cell obtains, for the first time, an official Scopus CiteScore as well as an official journal ranking in the Scimago Journal and Country Ranking.

2022: Microbial Cell’s CiteScore reaches a value of 7.2 for the year 2021, positioning Microbial Cell among the top microbiology journals (previously available CiteScores: 2019: 5.4; 2020: 5.1).

2022: Microbial Cell is indexed in the highly selective Science Citation Index Expanded™, which covers approx. 9,500 of the world’s most impactful journals across 178 scientific disciplines. In their journal selection and curation process, Clarivate´s editors apply 24 ‘quality’ criteria and four ‘impact’ criteria to select the most influential journals in their respective fields. This selection is also a pre-requisite for inclusion in the JCR, which features the impact factor.

2022: Microbial Cell is listed in the Journal Citation Reports™ (JCR), and obtains its first official Journal Impact Factor™ (JIF) for the year 2021: 5.316.

Check Article Types and Manuscript Preparation guidelines. Submit online via Scholastica.