Leading Editors:

Qingli Dong, Professor, School of Health Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China. Email: dongqingli@126.com

Yulong Tan, Professor, College of Food Science and Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China. Email: tanyulong@qau.edu.cn

Jinwei Zhou, Associate professor, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Xuzhou University of Technology, Xuzhou, 221018, China. Email: zhoujw86@126.com

Hong Chen, Professor, Shool of Food and Pharmacy, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang, 471934, China. Email: chenhong@lynu.edu.cn

Xiaoli Shen, Professor, School of Public Health, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, 563006, China. Email: xiaolishen1983@163.com

Haiyin Li, Professor, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, China. Email: lihaiyin@hbu.edu.cn

Weijie Liu, Professor, School of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, 221116, China. Email: leonliu2013@126.com

Shihao Song, Associate professor, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China. Email: songsh@hainanu.edu.cn

Xiaojuan Tan, Associate professor, College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, 241002, China. Email: xjtan@ahnu.edu.cn

Tianyuan Jia, Assistant Professor, Medical College of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China. Email: jiatianyuan2021@163.com

Minxia Fan, Assistant researcher, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China. Email: fanminxia@wbgcas.cn

Muhammad Asim Khan, Assistant professor, School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Linyi University, Linyi, 276000. China. Email: khanabdali@lyu.edu.cn

Yuanpeng Hao, Lecturer, Modern Research Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China. Email: haoyuanpeng@sxu.edu.cn

Chao Pan, Lecturer, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Xuzhou University of Technology, Xuzhou, 221018, China. Email: chaopan@jsnu.edu.cn

Special Issue Introduction

Pathogen contamination remains a major problem in food processing, storage and public health, which frequently leads to food safety accidents and infectious diseases with grave impacts on human health and industry. Pathogens employ varied virulence mechanisms, encompassing quorum sensing activation, biofilm formation, toxin release, oxidative stress injury and host immune dysregulation. Traditional chemical antimicrobials suffer from excess residues, antimicrobial resistance and environmental concerns, failing to meet the requirements of green and safe pathogen management. For this reason, discovery of potent antibacterial agents from natural food and medicine homology resources and development of new control strategies is a trending and vital research area across food science, microbiology and public health.

This special issue highlights innovative uses of food and medicine homology resources for pathogen control. It investigates the antibacterial properties, mechanisms and chemical basis of diverse food-medicine homologous materials, and clarifies how they suppress pathogen growth, dismantle biofilms, interfere with quorum sensing, mitigate antimicrobial resistance and attenuate host injury. The special issue intends to advance the scientific translation and industrial development of such resources for food safety management, bacterial/fungal disease prophylaxis and green antibacterial product development, offering theoretical and technical foundations for sustainable pathogen control systems.

Relevant topics include but are not limited to:

1. Antibacterial activity assessment and mechanisms of food and medicine homology resources.
2. Control effects and mechanisms of food and medicine homology resources on pathogenic and food spoilage pathogens.
3. Chemical and molecular basis of bioactive compounds from food and medicine homology resources for inhibiting pathogen virulence factors, quorum sensing and biofilm formation.
4. Application-oriented research on food preservation and pathogen contamination control utilizing food and medicine homology resources.
5. Formulation optimization, technological upgrading and industrial translation strategies of food and medicine homology antibacterial products.
6. Molecular mechanisms of food and medicine homology resources in alleviating bacterial resistance and achieving synergistic bactericidal effects combined with conventional antimicrobials.
7. Clinical studies of food and medicine homology resources in pathogen prevention and treatment.

Keywords: food and medicine homology; pathogens; antibacterial; drug resistance; virulence factors; quorum sensing

Instructions for submission:

The Editorial Manager System is ready for article submission towards the Virtual special issue: SI: Application of Food and Medicine Homology Resources in the Prevention and Control of Pathogens

The submission website for this journal is located at: https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/fmhr

To ensure that all manuscripts are correctly identified for inclusion into the special issue, it is important that authors select – Pathogens

when they reach the “Article Type” step in the submission process.

Benefits of publishing with Food & Medicine Homology Resources

• Open access (unlimited and free access for readers, and high visibility on SciOpen). https://www.sciopen.com/journal/3136-103X
• Free of any charge.
• Precise push, good reference effect.

Submission Deadline: March 30, 2027

Publication Date: December 2027