Integrons: Role in Biotechnology and Medicine

Call for Papers

Integrons constitute dynamic mechanisms of bacterial adaptation, playing a major role in the acquisition and expression of new genetic determinants.

Since their first description in the late 80s in clinical context, integrons have been widely reported worldwide and frequently associated with multiresistance phenotypes to antibiotics in hospital-acquired infections.

In last decade, research on integrons has increased enormously, being no longer confined to clinical settings, but also extended to aquatic and agricultural environments, wild and domestic animals, and man-made systems.

Culture-independent studies have also emerged, showing a high diversity of integron structures and revealing a vast and unknown gene cassette pool, possibly playing important cellular roles that greatly go beyond antibiotic resistance. This unknown gene pool may constitute a source of functionally diverse proteins with potential biotechnological applications. Additionally, recent findings on integrons regulation and their unique recombination properties also open new opportunities for their use in synthetic biology.

This special issue will focus on the current findings and most recent developments in the field of integron research, with a special emphasis in biotechnology and medicine. Contribution of research papers and review articles will be considered after peer review. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Epidemiology, ecology, and health impacts of integrons
• Origin and evolution of integrases and gene cassettes
• Mechanisms and regulation of integrons
• Structure and genetic context of integrons
• “Omics” approaches applied to integron research
• Applications in synthetic biology and biotechnology

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/bmri/biotechnology/integ/ according to the following timetable:

Lead Guest Editor

• Alexandra Moura, Laboratório de Microbiologia, Departamento de Biologia & CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

Guest Editors

• Marie-Cécile Ploy, UMR Inserm 1092, Anti-Infectieux:Supports Moléculaires des Résistances et Innovations Thérapeutiques, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Limoges, 87000 Limoges, France
• Carmen Torres, Area Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad de La Rioja, Madre de Dios 51, 26006 Logroño, Spain
• Thomas Jové, Laboratoire de Génétique et de Physiologie Bactérienne, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 12 Rue des Professeurs Jeener et Brachet, 6041 Gosselies, Belgium