Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.3
2.5
Journals
Applied Sciences
Special Issues
Advances in Biofilms and Their Applications in Biotechnology
applsci-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Applied Sciences Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Advances in Biofilms and Their Applications in Biotechnology

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2025 | Viewed by 2371

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tomislav Ivankovic

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: microbiology; biofilm; wastewater treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Vanja Jurišić

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Technology, Storage and Transport, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: renewable energy sources; biomass conversion; biofuels
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For the last two decades, biofilm has captured the imagination of researchers worldwide. Many imagine the biofilm as a "city under a dome" where microorganisms create their protective dome made of extracellular polymeric substance, the EPS, and within the city, they efficiently communicate using various mechanisms.

From a human perspective, biofilm's protection from antibiotics or disinfectants is a damaging property, but its protection from harsh environmental conditions during biotechnological procedures such as wastewater treatment is positive and desirable.

In this context, this Special Issue is aimed at collecting significant and recent studies dealing with all aspects of biofilms in biotechnology, whether it is various types of reactors for wastewater treatment, biocarriers, or bioremediation. Recent and novel advances in biofilm imaging are welcome, as are advanced findings on biofilm research methodology. Perspective studies dealing with biofilm eradication in hospital or industrial settings, or its resistance to antibiotics, could also be the topic of a potential manuscript.

Original scientific papers, reviews, and short reviews will be considered. Ground-breaking research, new ideas, and novel experimental and technological solutions that could improve existing knowledge and application of biofilms in biotechnology are encouraged. Potential manuscripts may include, but are not limited to, some of the topics listed below:

  • Biofilms in biofuel production and advanced bioremediation technologies;
  • Research and application of biofilms in wastewater treatment;
  • Advances in biofilm research methodology; 
  • Novel techniques for imaging biofilm;
  • Resistance of biofilms to antibiotics and disinfectants;
  • Biofilm eradication in hospital and industrial management;
  • Roles of biofilm in bacterial pathogenicity;
  • Archaeal biofilms.  

Dr. Tomislav Ivankovic
Dr. Vanja Jurišić
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. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 4374 KiB  
Article
Improving Water Quality by Combined Sedimentation and Slow Sand Filtration: A Case Study in a Maasai Community, Tanzania
by Nadav Bachar, Noga Lindenstrauss, Saar David, Micha Mirkin, Noam Polani, Osher Gueta, Shaked Partush and Avner Ronen
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(20), 9467; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14209467 - 17 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1097
Abstract
Some Maasai communities in northern Tanzania face severe water quality and scarcity issues, significantly impacting the health and living conditions of the local population. To address the water quality challenges faced by one of the Maasai communities, where thousands of residents consume water [...] Read more.
Some Maasai communities in northern Tanzania face severe water quality and scarcity issues, significantly impacting the health and living conditions of the local population. To address the water quality challenges faced by one of the Maasai communities, where thousands of residents consume water with high turbidity and contaminants, a team of volunteers, primarily engineering students from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, conducted a project in 2023. This project aimed to improve water quality through the implementation of combined sedimentation and biofilm-based slow sand filtration systems. These systems utilized mechanical filtration via sand bed percolation and biological filtration through biofilm formation, which effectively reduced turbidity and removed contaminants. The biofilm maturation significantly enhanced filtration efficiency, achieving turbidity reduction from levels exceeding 10,000 to below 5 NTU, meeting WHO standards. Comprehensive water quality assessments revealed contamination in the water sources, with elevated levels of lead (up to 11 mg/L), which pose health risks. In addition, we evaluated locally accessible materials such as chalk and limestone for coagulation and precipitation, enhancing water clarity and removing contaminants. Despite constraints that shortened the mission duration, the results provide a solid foundation for future efforts to improve water quality in the region. This study highlights the potential of low-tech biofilm-based filtration systems for sustainable water purification in resource-limited environments. It demonstrates the effectiveness of small-scale household systems and presents a development protocol optimized for local materials and water contamination characteristics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biofilms and Their Applications in Biotechnology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 2475 KiB  
Article
Natural Materials as Carriers of Microbial Consortium for Bioaugmentation of Anaerobic Digesters
by Blanka Dadic, Tomislav Ivankovic, Karlo Spelic, Jasna Hrenovic and Vanja Jurisic
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(16), 6883; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14166883 - 6 Aug 2024
Viewed by 771
Abstract
The production of biogas is achieved during anaerobic digestion (AD) using organic matter as a substrate. In Mediterranean countries, a promising substrate is lignocellulose biomass of perennial grass Miscanthus x giganteus, due to its potentially high biogas yields, which could be comparable to [...] Read more.
The production of biogas is achieved during anaerobic digestion (AD) using organic matter as a substrate. In Mediterranean countries, a promising substrate is lignocellulose biomass of perennial grass Miscanthus x giganteus, due to its potentially high biogas yields, which could be comparable to maize silage. During AD, bacteria convert biomass into more minor compounds, which are further converted to methane by methanogenic archaea. The selection of appropriate microbes for the degradation of the substrate is crucial, and the enhancement of this step lies in the immobilization of microbes on biocarriers. Described here, a microbial consortium, de novo isolated and conditioned to degrade the Mischantus biomass, was immobilized onto several natural biocarriers: natural zeolitized tuff, ZeoSand® (Velebit Agro, Zagreb, Croatia), perlite, and corncob. There was no statistically significant difference in the number of immobilized bacteria across the different materials. Therefore, all proved to be suitable for the immobilization of the consortium. In the consortium, five bacterial species with different shares in the consortium were identified: Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter asburiae, Leclercia adecarboxylata, and Exiguobacterium indicum. After immobilization on each carrier, the share of each species changed when compared to starting conditions, and the most dominant species was E. cloacae (71–90%), while the share for other species ranged from 2 to 23%. The share of E. indicum was 14% at the start. However, it diminished to less than 1% because it was overgrown during the competition with other bacterial species, not due to an inability to immobilize. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biofilms and Their Applications in Biotechnology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop