Microbial Cell Factories is an open access peer-reviewed journal that covers any topic related to the development, use and investigation of microbial cells as producers of recombinant proteins and natural products, or as catalyzers of biological transformations of industrial interest. Microbial Cell Factories is the world leading, primary research journal fully focusing on Applied Microbiology. The journal is divided into the following editorial sections: -Metabolic engineering -Synthetic biology -Whole-cell biocatalysis -Microbial regulations -Recombinant protein production/bioprocessing -Production of natural compounds -Systems biology of cell factories -Microbial production processes -Cell-free systems