Editorial: Environmental omics and their biotechnological applications

Abstract

First paragraph: The refinement of omics methods over recent years has enabled significant advances in microbiology. The functioning of the environment is extremely diverse, complex, and challenging to decipher, and consequently requires advanced molecular tools to address key scientific questions that remain poorly documented. Environmental omics aim at a better understanding of the metabolic processes of a wide range of organisms and/or complex microbial communities to improve phenotype-genotype linkages, thus providing novel insights into the key molecular players in response to environmental changes and invaluable information on microbial communities. In this context, this Research Topic showcases the power of environmental omics to characterize novel catalysts for biotechnological applications. The range of applications is large and includes the bioremediation of pollutants, design of innovative biosensors, screening for novel catalysts and therapeutic drugs, and bioproduction of novel chemicals and materials. We have encouraged scientists using omics to study different aspects of environmental processes to contribute to this ResearchTopic. The knowledge generated with these studies could be complemented by others with the ultimate goal of properly characterizing processes to develop knowledge-based biotechnological applications.