Researchers embedded isolated iron atoms in the sub-nanometer channels of an MFI zeolite, creating a stable catalyst in which iron sites activated hydrogen peroxide while nearby Brønsted acid sites attracted the target molecule. The catalyst showed rapid peroxidation and exerted effective cytotoxicity against tumor cells.

Researchers compressed the Fe-N bond in uniform Fe₁-N₄single-atom catalysts from 2.03 to 1.93 Å without changing their coordination structure. This 0.1 Å change promoted electron accumulation at Fe centers, enhanced peroxide activation and increased C-H bond oxidation activity nearly 23-fold. The study establishes a direct relationship between bond distance, electronic structure and catalytic performance, extending precise catalyst design to the subangstrom scale.

Fungi represent a cornerstone of industrial biotechnology, serving as indispensable platforms for the production of enzymes, organic acids, and high-value pharmaceuticals. In the era of synthetic biology and green manufacturing, the engineering of fungal cell factories offers unparalleled opportunities to address global challenges in sustainability, human health, and the circular bioeconomy. This article collection aims to capture the cutting-edge advances in fungal biomanufacturing, ranging from foundational metabolic engineering to the development of robust industrial strains.

Filamentous fungi and yeasts are powerful platforms for sustainable chemical production. As industries shift away from petrochemical-based processes, engineered fungal cell factories offer a renewable route to high-value compounds—from therapeutic alkaloids to biodegradable polymers. By integrating cutting-edge tools like CRISPR-Cas9, biosensors, and dynamic pathway regulation, we can overcome long-standing bottlenecks in titer, rate, and yield. Furthermore, linking fungal biomanufacturing with medicinal plant biomass valorization directly supports the circular bioeconomy, reduces agricultural waste, and enables the sustainable production of bioactive natural products that are otherwise difficult to source.

This collection will serve as a platform for presenting innovative strategies that bridge the gap between laboratory-scale design and industrial-scale application, emphasizing the critical role of fungi in shaping a sustainable manufacturing future. We invite contributions that explore the full spectrum of fungal biotechnology, with a focus on leveraging the unique metabolic versatility of yeast and filamentous fungi. Topics of interest include the design and optimization of fungal cell factories for the sustainable production of biofuels, biopolymers, and high-value natural products. We particularly welcome studies that integrate systems biology, CRISPR-based genome editing, and process engineering to overcome current bottlenecks in titers, yields, and rate of products. Additionally, given the growing significance of traditional medicine and functional foods, this issue will highlight the role of fungal systems in the herb bioprocessing to produce bioactive compounds.

Topics of Interest in details:

Development and optimization of Saccharomyces, Yarrowia, and non-conventional yeasts for industrial applications.

Pathway construction, flux optimization, and dynamic regulation in fungal hosts.

Development of genetic parts, CRISPR-Cas9/12 tools, and biosensors for fungal systems.

Heterologous biosynthesis of terpenoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, polyketides, and fungal secondary metabolites.

Biotransformation, valorization, and sustainable production of bioactive compounds from medicinal plant biomass.

Morphology engineering and harnessing Aspergillus, Trichoderma, and Basidiomycetes for enzyme and chemical production.

Bioprocess design, scaling-up strategies, and techno-economic analysis for fungal-based manufacturing.

 keywords:

Yeast cell factories

Metabolic engineering

Synthetic biology

Natural products

Herb bioprocessing

Filamentous fungi

CRISPR-Cas9

Sustainable bioprocesses

Adoptive T cell therapy works well in some blood cancers but remain less effective against solid tumors. Researchers developed T-FOLactis, a probiotic–T cell chimera that links engineered bacteria directly to T cells. In colorectal cancer models, the platform improved tumor localization, strengthened local immune coordination, and produced greater antitumor activity than conventional T cell therapy.

Researchers at Yangzhou University found that ferric uptake regulator (Fur) coordinates iron homeostasis and oxidative-stress responses in Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a major seafood-associated foodborne pathogen. Deleting fur reduced intracellular iron, impaired growth and altered expression of 820 genes, yet did not significantly change virulence in a zebrafish model, revealing a broad regulatory role whose disease effects may depend on the infection setting.

Heat waves and severe air pollution are increasingly occurring together across northern India, exposing millions of people to multiple environmental hazards at the same time. A new study finds that this growing threat is driven not only by local pollution sources, but also by climate-related changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation that favor both extreme heat and intensified particle pollution.

Cladophialophora guangxiense HX2, a dark septate endophyte (DSE), has demonstrated excellent control efficacy against tomato bacterial wilt. Its chlamydospores, characterized by strong stress resistance and extended shelf life, serve as the core functional carrier of biocontrol agents. The research team from the Institute of Plant Protection, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, systematically optimized the liquid fermentation process using response surface methodology, achieving a breakthrough chlamydospore yield of 2.71×10⁸ spores/mL—an increase of over 145% compared to pre-optimization levels. The resulting wettable powder maintained a germination rate of 59.42% after 8 months of storage at room temperature. This achievement provides critical process parameters for the industrialization of DSE-based biocontrol agents and is expected to promote low-cost, large-scale production of green agricultural inputs.

A research team at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has used scanning nitrogen-vacancy microscopy and vector magnetic field reconstruction to demonstrate at the nanoscale that zigzag graphene nanoribbons embedded in hexagonal boron nitride exhibit strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The work was published in the Journal of Functional Materials and Devices.