The increasing knowledge of the makeup and role of organ microbiomes has created new possibilities for understanding and managing human illnesses. The models used for animal studies conducted in laboratory settings and live animals may not always offer the necessary insights. One cell culture system known as organ-on-a-chip technology has garnered interest as a way to collect data that accurately reflects human responses. Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) technology, while accurately simulating the function of tissues and organs, has largely covered the differences between animal and human systems. Microbiome-on-a-chip (MoC) offers benefits over other procedures, permitting dimensional observation of ecological dynamics, microbial growth, and host-associated interactions while regulating and assessing relevant environmental parameters such as pH and O in real-time. The fabricated MoC platforms can be designed to test microbiome-enabled therapies, to study culture and pharmacology, antibiotic resistance, and to model multi-organ interactions mediated by the microbiome. In the current overview, we provide a translational perspective and discuss different organs, such as: oral, skin, gut and vaginal microbiota on a chip and recently developed MoC-based devices. The commonly used MoC fabrication methods, such as microfluidics and 3D printing, have been explored, and the potential applications of MoC in microbiome engineering have been suggested.

The global accumulation of keratin-rich waste, primarily from poultry and livestock industries, presents significant environmental and economic challenges. This review explores the potential of -derived keratinases as a sustainable solution for keratin waste valorization and prospects of value-addition. Keratinases, the keratin hydrolyzing proteases produced predominantly by various species, exhibit exceptional capability in degrading keratin, a highly stable and recalcitrant protein. This degradation process not only mitigates the environmental impact of keratin waste, but also converts it into valuable by-products with potential industrial applications. We systematically review various aspects, including: the production, properties and the mechanism of keratin degradation by keratinases, highlighting their enzymatic properties, substrate specificity, and efficiency in valorizing keratin into peptides and amino acids. Biomolecular aspects and catalytic behavior relevant to the activity and stability of keratinases are visited modeling. The economic and environmental benefits of utilizing keratinases for waste valorization are assessed, including reductions in waste disposal costs, greenhouse gas emissions, and the potential for creating new economic opportunities through the utilization of keratin-derived products. The recent advancements in keratin waste enzyme treatment and their utilization in developing circular bioeconomy are highlighted in the present article.

Prodigiosin is an alkaloid, cell-associated, red pigment extensively produced as a secondary metabolite by Gram negative bacterium, . The red pigment holds immense recognition for multifunctional tri-pyrrole structure and as a promising candidate for wide array of industrial applications. The biosynthesis and regulation of prodigiosin in is a complex process, manifesting biological information at multiple cellular levels as genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics. The current review delves into molecular biology of highlighting it as a prolific producer of prodigiosin. This review also highlights crucial aspects of regulatory mechanisms for prodigiosin production in , along with recent advancements in strain improvement and heterologous production of pigment in industrially compliant host. In addition, this review integrates current knowledge on molecular biology and regulation of prodigiosin, addressing the approaches employed for high level of prodigiosin production, potential applications, challenges and future perspective for harnessing industrial potential of prodigiosin in future.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play a crucial defensive role in living organisms, capable of rapidly responding to and eliminating invading microorganisms. Their mechanisms of action are diverse, primarily involving the disruption of microbial cell membranes. The interest in AMPs stems from their potential to address antibiotic resistance and improve human health. AMPs exhibit: broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, low toxicity, thermal stability, and high specificity, making them promising candidates for new antimicrobial drugs with applications in medicine, food preservation, and agriculture. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the historical development and classification of AMPs. It details their: classification, mechanisms of action, application fields, and processes involved in the isolation, purification, and structural identification of microbial-derived AMPs. Additionally, it introduces a novel green extraction method using deep eutectic solvents (DESs) for peptide extraction.

β-glucosidases are a well-characterized, diverse group of hydrolytic enzymes that act on various substrates. They are extensively used in different sectors, including: bioethanol, food, flavor, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries. Immobilization improves the operational stability, reusability and catalytic efficiency of β-glucosidase compared to the free enzyme. The nanoscale dimensions, high surface area of the nanomaterial, and strong enzyme-nanosupport interactions prevent denaturation and leaching of β-glucosidase. This boosts enzyme stability, reduces the need for replenishment, and allows for easy recovery and reuse, minimizing enzyme waste and energy consumption in industrial biocatalysis. Nanosupport materials, including: inorganic materials, carbon, biopolymer-based, and magnetic nanoparticles, have gained popularity as immobilization matrices for generating either β-glucosidase immobilization or co-immobilization systems for various applications. The present review focuses on the current trends in immobilization strategies of β-glucosidase for improving operational stability and recyclability of the enzyme. Additionally, this review provides deeper insights into various surface modifications of magnetic and non-magnetic nanosupport matrices employed for immobilization and their impact on the catalytic efficiency of β-glucosidase. Moreover, the review thoroughly investigates the challenges encountered in immobilizing β-glucosidases on various nanosupport matrices. It concludes with insightful remarks that encourage future researchers to conduct studies dedicated to the development of a highly efficient, industrially adapted nanobiocatalytic system to achieve sustainable biotransformation aligning with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): SDG 2 (Sustainable Food System), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 9 (Sustainable Industry), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption), and SDG 13 (Climate Action: Reducing Carbon Emissions).

The adage "Food is the God of the people" underscores the profound interconnectedness between agriculture and the food industry. Agriculture forms the backbone of the food industry, while evolving consumer preferences continuously shape its progress. The balance between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (SFAs and UFAs) in vegetable oils is critical to human health. As health awareness grows, UFAs have gained significant market traction, prompting extensive research into their biosynthesis, regulation, and improvement. This review focuses on oilseed crops, offering a comprehensive analysis of: fatty acid composition, biosynthesis pathways, gene regulation, and breeding strategies to enhance quality. By integrating theoretical and practical insights, our work aims to provide guidance for promoting sustainable agriculture and advancing the food industry.

Reporter systems are gaining increasing popularity in modern molecular biology as they provide reliable and clear readouts for various types of assays, both and . The generation of reporter cell lines is instrumental for screening activators and inhibitors of signaling pathways to develop new therapeutic approaches. Reporter cell lines are those with stably integrated reporter constructs containing signaling genes (often luciferase or fluorescent proteins), enabling the visualization and tracking of protein expression. Although seemingly harmless and straightforward, untargeted genomic integration of reporter genes may severely affect the expression of neighboring genes, causing unwanted and unpredictable effects. Unlike the untargeted approach, the CRISPR/Cas9 system provides a more precise method of reporter integration, especially when reporters are integrated into Safe Harbor loci. This ensures minimal influence on neighboring genomic regions. This review discusses recent advancements in creating reporter lines using the CRISPR/Cas9 system and experimental approaches for identifying suitable Safe Harbor loci.

A large amount of fruit and vegetable waste is generated after harvest, during processing from the food industry and along the supply chain due to fresh produce quality deterioration. Fruit and vegetable waste may impact various sectors, such as the environment, economy, and society. In the last two decades, several studies have tried to mitigate the impact of fruit and vegetable waste by developing and optimizing extraction methods, targeting specific compounds without considering the value and further utilization of the remaining wet residue. Recently, biorefinery systems have been explored and developed for the holistic valorization of fruit and vegetable waste. The current research aims to summarize recent studies examining the valorization of different fruit and vegetable by-products using a holistic biorefinery approach. The various steps in a biorefinery process are presented and discussed. Biorefinery systems should be chosen and developed considering the presence or absence of fat-soluble compounds (i.e., oils) in fruit and vegetable waste. In the current study, different biorefinery systems are proposed based on fruit and vegetable waste composition. In conclusion, the phytochemicals and products produced during the biorefinery process can benefit various industries, such as: the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, transportation, chemical, heating, agricultural, and horticultural industries. Future multidisciplinary studies are encouraged to investigate the techno-economic and environmental impacts of the biorefinery processes.

Microalgae are desirable candidates for performing about half of the World's organic carbon fixation and its conversion to essential metabolites of human metabolism, including polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). However, the yields of microalgal FAs produced naturally are typically insufficient to cover the expenses of their commercial utilization. To overcome this problem, gene engineering techniques have been used to change the activity of endogenous enzymes. This review aims to find knowledge about the mechanism of regulation of fatty acid (FA) biosynthesis and CO fixation in microalgae. Firstly, this study discusses molecular strategies toward accelerating FA biosynthesis with a main emphasis on a critical review of transcriptional engineering. Some transcription factors (TFs) are known to increase FA content and related gene expression. However, a research gap is revealed toward understanding their regulatory mechanism and finding their role in regulating CO fixation. Secondly, a critical review of studies on CO fixation regulated by Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCo) and RuBisCo activase () disclosed that no studies have yet been reported about their transcriptional control. Thirdly, prospects are given on the genetic basis of parallel transcriptional regulation of genes involved in FA biosynthesis and CO fixation in microalgae. This study should potentially provide considerable knowledge on developing eco-friendly and sustainable microalgae genetic resources to maximize the yield of value-added FAs using TF engineering.

Cadmium (Cd) pollution possesses severe risks to human health and the ecosystem due to its high toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation potential. Conventional remediation methods, such as chemical precipitation, membrane filtration and ion exchange, are often costly, inefficient and unsustainable. In contrast, microalgae-based bioremediation has emerged as a promising approach due to its ability of biosorption, bioaccumulation and biotransformation. Microalgae possess unique metabolic and structural attributes, including: abundant extracellular metal binding sites, polymeric substances, intracellular chelators and the ability of Cd-nanoparticles (CdSeNPs, CdSNPs) formation enabling efficient Cd sequestration and detoxification. Despite these advantages, large-scale application remains limited due to gaps in understanding of key regulatory mechanisms. This review highlights the detailed mechanism of the microalgae-based Cd remediation process, identifies critical factors influencing remediation efficiency and potential microalgae strain's efficiency in Cd removal. Furthermore, the utilization of genetic engineering for enhancing remediation efficiency by targeting key metal transporters, chelators, and stress-response pathways and potential candidate gene are also highlighted. These biotechnological advances and the understanding of the microalgae mediated remediation process presents a promise for a large scale efficient, sustainable Cd bioremediation approach.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play crucial roles in many plant biological processes. ROS have emerged as major signaling molecules mediating various regulatory reactions in response to environmental stimuli. This signaling is mediated by a highly regulated process of ROS accumulation at specific cellular compartments. Therefore, this review focuses on the intricate ROS signaling in plant defense and strategic virulence effectors from pathogens hijacking ROS homeostasis. In addition, the ROS-mediated regulation of plant processes acts through post-translational modifications (PTMs) is discussed. We also provide a valuable roadmap for translating ROS research into climate-resilient cultivars by exploring the manipulation of pathogen effectors, ROS cascade genes through modern biotechnological approaches, and post-translational modifications against various environmental stressors. This framework can advance research in plant stress biology and agricultural practices.

Pellets are ultrastructural configurations of filamentous fungal biomass that form during growth in submerged culture. This growth pattern offers advantages for controlling and stabilizing bioprocesses through biomass immobilization, reduced medium viscosity, and facilitated compound extraction. These benefits are particularly valuable for bioremediation, synergistic applications with biomaterials, and industrial metabolite production. However, fungal pellets also present challenges, such as limited oxygen diffusion to the pellet core, inconsistent pellet homogeneity, and decreased productivity. Factors such as electrostatic interactions, hydrophobicity, and culture conditions influence pellet formation. Currently, optimization efforts for pellet production focus on evaluating parameters, such as: pH range, agitation rate, pellet formation time, carbon source, additive agents, trace metals, and inoculum concentration, among others. Fungal pellets are increasingly recognized as promising platforms in emerging environmental biotechnology due to their versatility in pollutant removal and sustainable processing. Unlike previous reviews, this work provides an integrated and up-to-date perspective that combines the fundamentals of pellet formation with recent advances in their environmental and industrial applications, highlighting strategies for optimization and scalability. This review focuses on analyzing the most relevant aspects of fungal pellets, including their formation, optimization, and biotechnological applications. Given the growing importance of fungi in contemporary biotechnology, a state-of-the-art review of fungal pellets is warranted. This includes presenting an updated overview of processes for generating fungal biomass with enhanced handling, based on the use of fungal granules, an essential component for the implementation of efficient biotechnological processes using model fungal pellets with relevant industrial applications.

Urease (urea amidohydrolase, EC 3.5.1.5), first crystallized from jack-bean () by James B. Sumner in 1926, has become a cornerstone of biotechnology. The global urease market, dominated by plant-based sources, was valued at USD 1.24 Billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5%, reaching USD 1.94 billion by 2033. However, plant-derived ureases face challenges, such as low extraction efficiency, variability in yield due to plant maturity, and sensitivity to environmental factors, limiting scalability. Microbial ureases, globally embraced due to escalating demand, offer superior stability across extreme pH and temperature ranges. These attributes confer broad potential applications in diverse fields, such as: agriculture, environmental, clinical, and healthcare industries. Nevertheless, the industrial production of microbial urease continues to encounter obstacles, including elevated purification costs and the lack of cost-effective optimization strategies. This review provides quantitative insights into microbial ureases from bacteria, fungi (excluding hemiascomyces), and diatoms, highlighting their catalytic efficiency, Ni-dependencies, and advancements in assay techniques and enhanced purification strategies. It explores applications across agriculture, bioremediation, and self-healing concrete, emphasizing ureolysis-driven microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) as a promising eco-friendly and sustainable approach, thus providing a scientific and reasonable reference for their large-scale application.

Tyrosinase is a copper-containing monooxygenase that catalyzes the O-hydroxylation of tyrosine to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine and subsequently to dopaquinone. The enzyme is essential for the formation of melanin in eukaryotes, and its over-activation is linked to hyperpigmentation, which is metabolically associated with severe clinical conditions. The most efficient way to regulate the overproduction of melanin and its harmful effects is to suppress tyrosinase. Endophytic fungi are of immense importance in producing the pharmacologically active and structurally diverse range of secondary metabolites with the host plant and even as sole producers. These fungi have been widely reported to produce a myriad of potent tyrosinase inhibitors, which can pave the path for discovering new treatment approaches, especially for melanin-induced hyperpigmentation. To utilize tyrosinase inhibitors as active pharmaceutical or cosmeceutical ingredients, however, extensive studies are required to evaluate them under conditions, and there is also a need to explore novel fungal endophytes from diverse sources.

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are an ecologically and physiologically diverse group that synthesizes intracellular nanoparticles, known as magnetosomes (biomagnetic minerals), enabling them to navigate along geomagnetic field lines through microbial magnetoreception. This review provides a comprehensive overview of MTB research from 1979 to 2024, encompassing (i) the cultivation approach, (ii) diverse ecosystems, such as: volcanic lakes, coral reefs, paleosols, acidic peatland, and deep-sea hydrothermal fields, and (iii) ecological and evolutionary studies. To date only two phyla, (specifically , , and ) and have been reported for magnetosomes based biomineralization. Recent advancements in methodologies, including: cultivation-independent approach to survey Magnetosome Gene Cluster (MGCs), 16S rRNA gene characterization, and Cultivation dependent approach for successful isolation of an axenic culture/s of novel MTB strains from diverse ecosystems. The review also highlights the significance of MTB-derived Magnetofossils from paleoenvironmental sediments and emphasizes the importance of Cultivation-independent approach using group-specific primers and alphaproteobacterial sets of primers for direct detection of MTB from the environmental samples. Furthermore, the expanding application of magnetosomes in biotechnology, such as: magnetic hyperthermia for cancer treatment, targeted drug delivery, MTB-based microrobots for isolation of pathogens, and environmental remediation (e.g., pollutant and heavy metal removal from waste water), are discussed.

In recent years, interest in the role of nutrient cycling in sustainable agriculture has significantly increased. The potential of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (AMFs) in nutrient cycling and plant growth improvement has long been recognized. However, there have been only a few studies on the identification and exploration of AM symbiosis-related plant genes for sustainable agriculture. We have developed a new constructive model for using host plant-derived AM symbiosis-related genes to improve breeding and AMF utilization for sustainable agriculture, particularly in the context of climate change. This model include: 1) the discovery of AM symbiosis-related genes in crop wild-relatives for molecular breeding and 2) the screening and propagation of AMFs that can help improve water-use efficiency and nutrient-use efficiency by crops, thereby reducing chemical fertilizer use in agricultural production. The first approach uniquely facilitates the identification of host plant-derived AM symbiosis-related genes, such as () from Dongxiang (DY) wild rice () (), () from wild barley (), and from wild soybean (), for breeding purposes. The second one involves identifying soil-borne AMF species, such as and for practical applications in the field. This suggestive model presents an emerging biotechnological potential for engineering climate-resilient crops.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading global cause of death and strains healthcare systems significantly. Early diagnosis is crucial and can be achieved through cardiac biomarker assessment, which enables timely treatment and reduces mortality rates. Traditional diagnostic methods require large hospital equipment for electrocardiography and laboratory analysis, leading to lengthy procedures. To address this, there is increasing interest in advanced biosensing technologies for rapid CVD marker screening. Advances in nanotechnology and bioelectronics have led to new biosensor platforms that offer rapid detection, accurate quantification, and continuous monitoring. This comprehensive review focuses on blood-based RNA cardiac biomarkers, which are widely used in clinical settings, and examines the development of electrochemical nanobiosensors for detecting RNA biomarkers. It provides a thorough evaluation of the benefits and drawbacks of these biosensing devices and offers insights into future research directions for electrochemical nanobiosensors in CVD, particularly those based on RNA markers.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a critical technology in nucleic acid detection and quantification. The PCR reaction requires thermal cycling the reaction mixture between two or more temperature stages for ∼30 cycles to achieve exponential amplification of the target DNA. Typically, the thermal cycling takes roughly an hour to finish and the large time consumption is a drawback for PCR. We review the various methods developed to reduce the thermal cycling time and build a rapid PCR. We group the methods to two approaches. The first approach is to increase the local heating/cooling power. The methods in this approach include contact heating, such as: heating resistors and Peltier pumps, and non-contact heating using air-blow, radiation on water and plasmonics. The other approach is to rapidly move the reaction mixture to a different temperature zone. Methods in this approach include: relocating the reaction vessel, continuous flow PCR using microfluidic chips, long tubes or oscillatory PCR scheme, and convective PCR. We analyze the advantages and challenges for each method used and the critical parameters to consider when evaluating the technologies. We review the technological advances and commercialization for each method. We also discuss the current challenges and future directions in building an effective and commercial rapid PCR, with the emphasis on sensitivity, portability and cost.

Astaxanthin, a natural di-keto carotenoid xanthophyll, is a highly valued nutraceutical and food ingredient due to its potent health benefits, including: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, cardiovascular, and anti-diabetic effects. This review examines the primary natural sources of: astaxanthin microalgae, yeast, bacteria, and plants, with a focus on microalgae due to their superior accumulation potential and bioactivity. It explores the growing prospects for large-scale astaxanthin production, highlighting advancements in both upstream and downstream processes. Upstream innovations include enhanced bioprocess designs that improve biomass yield, light and stress tolerance. Downstream, sustainable extraction methods such as aqueous two-phase systems with deep eutectic solvents (99.64% recovery) and high-pressure supercritical CO extraction have improved efficiency and scalability. Additionally, eco-friendly techniques, such as bead milling and pulsed electric field permeabilization offer cost-effective solutions, among other cell disruption techniques, and ensure higher yields. This study provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in astaxanthin production and extraction, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) linked to health and well-being (SDG 3) and responsible consumption and production (SDG 12).

Despite their tremendous benefits to society, currently licensed vaccines, including mRNA-based ones, are far from ideal and suffer several issues. Common problems associated with all types of vaccine formulations currently in clinical use include thermolabile nature, poor shelf life at ambient temperature, and the continuous need for cold chain and sometimes ultra-low temperature. Several approaches have been tested in the past to surmount these shortcomings. This review discusses the advantages of whole yeast (WY) or whole recombinant yeast-based (WRY) vaccines compared to other vaccine formulations to overcome the above-mentioned issues. The interaction between yeast cells and the host immune system in relevance to the WRY vaccines has been discussed along with the importance of whole yeast cells in the development of anti-fungal vaccines by highlighting the bottlenecks hampering the use of WRY in vaccine formulation. Specifically, the present review highlighted the status of WRY vaccines, including those in clinical trials, and also summarized the guidelines, one should follow while conducting research or reporting the data related to WRY vaccines.

The escalating problem of antibiotic resistance has sparked renewed interest in bacteriophages (phages) as potential substitutes for conventional antibiotics in treating infectious diseases, improving food safety, and advancing sustainable agriculture. The key phage research processes, such as host range, burst size, and environmental stability tests, strongly influence phage production processes. Hence, the standardization of the mentioned techniques must be prioritized. The introduction of high-throughput sequencing technologies with high accuracy and the emergence of novel bioinformatic tools to analyze the resulting raw molecular data provide comprehensive identification of phages and phage-verse (the universe of phage). While encapsulation of phages was studied comprehensively before, the production of encapsulated phages is still unclear. Moreover, recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) contribute to phage research by increasing the accuracy of bioinformatic tools, improving resistance profiling, and facilitating phage host prediction. Incorporating AI promises a future of automated, precisely tailored phage applications. This review covers efficient techniques appropriate for industrial and agricultural applications as well as large-scale phage production methods, covering upstream and downstream processing. Also, encapsulated phage production and AI-based automated systems in various applications are proposed in this review. By covering both present issues and potential future uses of phages in the fight against antibiotic resistance, this review seeks to give academics and industry experts the fundamental information they need to advance phage-based solutions.