What is this collection about?

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a critical global health challenge that threatens public health, food security, and economic stability. The emergence of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens highlights the urgent need to understand the mechanisms driving this issue. The implications of AMR extend beyond human health, affecting livestock and agriculture, and illustrates the interconnectedness of microbial ecosystems and human activities.

Among the most active areas of research are the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and the dynamics of resistant populations in organisms and the environment.

This Collection invites high quality, novel original research on the mechanisms, impacts, and management of resistant pathogens. Topics of interest include:

·       Molecular mechanisms of resistance in pathogenic microbes

·       Environmental influence on antimicrobial resistance distribution

·       Antimicrobial resistance gene dynamics in microbiomes

·       AI and other next-generation tools to detect and tackle antimicrobial resistance.

We mainly encourage submissions of Research Articles, but a selection of Review Articles, Mini-Reviews and Perspectives will be considered. All submissions will undergo the same review process and editorial standards as regular submissions to the journal.

Why submit to a collection?

Collections like this one help promote high-quality science. They are led by Guest Editors and In-House Editors who are experts in their fields and supported by a dedicated team of Commissioning Editors and Managing Editors at Springer Nature. Collection manuscripts typically see higher citations, downloads, and Altmetric scores, and provide a one-stop-shop on a cutting-edge topic of interest.

This Collection welcomes submissions from all authors – and not by invitation only – on the condition that the manuscripts fall within the scope of the Collection and of Communications Biology more generally. See our editorial process page for more details. All manuscripts published in the collection are hosted on a dedicated nature portfolio portal, giving articles high visibility beyond the journal they are published in.

Who is involved?

Ranjana Pathania, PhD, IIT Roorkee, India

Dr. Ranjana Pathania is a Professor and DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Senior Fellow in the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Roorkee, India. During her Ph.D. at CSIR-IMTECH, Chandigarh, India, Prof. Pathania studied the role of hemoglobins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathobiology. She then joined Prof. Eric Brown’s laboratory at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada in 2003, to work in drug discovery using chemical genomics to combat antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. Since 2007, the Pathania group at IIT Roorkee employs a two-pronged approach to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in ESKAPE pathogens. One approach involves chemical genetics strategies to discover novel antibacterials, antibiotic-antibiotic combinations, and adjunct molecules. The other strategy involves uncovering small RNA mediated post-transcriptional regulatory networks of pathophysiology in Acinetobacter baumannii, a WHO-classified top-priority pathogen.

Communications Biology is edited by both in-house professional editors and Editorial Board Members. Dr. Ranjana Pathania is a member of the Communications Biology editorial board and

will act as guest editor for submissions to this collection.

Our editors work closely together to ensure the quality of our published papers and consistency in author experience.

How can I submit my paper?

Visit the Collection page to find out more about this collection and submit your article.