Lignin Bioconversion into Valuable Products through Microbial Fermentation

Dear Colleagues,

As one of the most abundant polymers in the biosphere, lignin has attracted extensive attention as a kind of promising feedstock for biofuel and bio-based products. However, the utilization of lignin presents various challenges, such as its complex composition and structure and high resistance to degradation. Lignin conversion through biological platforms harnesses the catalytic power of microorganisms to decompose complex lignin molecules and obtain value-added products through biosynthesis. Given the heterogeneity of lignin, various microbial metabolic pathways are involved in lignin bioconversion processes, which have been characterized in extensive research work. With different types of lignin substrates (e.g., model compounds, technical lignin, and lignocellulosic biomass), several bacterial and fungal species have been proved to possess lignin-degrading abilities and accumulate microbial products (e.g., lipid and polyhydroxyalkanoates), while their lignin conversion efficiencies are still relatively low. Genetic and metabolic strategies have been developed to enhance lignin biodegradation by reprogramming microbial metabolism, and diverse products, such as vanillin and dicarboxylic acids, have also been produced from lignin. The goal of this Special Issue is to publish both recent innovative research results and review papers on lignin bioconversion including lignin isolation/characterization, degradation mechanisms, novel enzymes, metabolic pathways and applications for the production of value-added products. Advanced techniques on genetic and metabolic engineering are also covered in the recent development of biological platforms for lignin utilization. This Special Issue also aims to cover the existing challenges for efficient lignin bioprocessing and possible directions for future work. If you would like to contribute a review paper, please contact us to discuss the topic relevance before submitting the manuscript.

Dr. Yi Zheng
Dr. Jian Shi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fermentation is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• lignin characterization
• lignin isolation
• depolymerization
• bioconversion
• functionalization
• metabolic engineering
• bio-based material
• sustainable biorefinery
• fermentation
• enzyme system