Submission to first decision
25 days

Over recent years, the journal Microbial Ecology has been revamped to provide an international forum for the presentation of high-quality scientific investigations into microbial ecology, and how microorganisms interact with their biotic and abiotic environments, with each other as well as with their neighbors and hosts. The journal presents high quality peer reviewed manuscripts in multiple formats inclusive of full-length manuscripts, commentaries and notes. Brief reviews and topical position papers are also encouraged. The journal has a rapid average turn around rate of 6 weeks.
NOTES
Microbial Ecology accepts shorter contributions in the forms of NOTES. A Note should be continuous text with a length of no more than 1200 words. There should be no more than three figures or tables with brief legends. Methods should be included as well as references.
Journal coverage includes the ecology of microorganisms in natural and engineered environments; genomic, metagenomic and molecular advances in understanding of microbial interactions and phylogeny; microbial drivers of biogeochemical processes; inter- and intraspecific microbial communication; ecological studies of animal, plant and insect microbiology and disease; microbial processes and interactions in extreme or unusual environments; microbial population and community ecology, and more. Technological advances that allow us to increase our understanding of microbial diversity and interactions are also welcome.
Other topics that are covered in our journal include.
1. Pathogens in the environment
2. Key players in the carbon cycle and aquatic ecosystems
3. Phage plasmids and mobile elements in ecology
4. Biofilms
5. Soil-microbe interactions
6. Technology developments to study microbial ecology
7. Host microbe interactions
8. Aquatic Microbiology
9. Genes and Genomes
10. Microbial Evolution

Editor:
Karen E. Nelson
President
J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI)
9605 Medical Center Drive
Rockville, MD 20850, USA

Editorial Board:
A. Elizabeth Arnold, School of Plant Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ, USA
Lars Bakken, Agricultural Univerity of Norway, Dept. of Soil & Water Sciences, Aas, Norway
Franck Carbonero, Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72704
Marcus Claesson, School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Bhabatosh Das, Centre for Human Microbial Ecology, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, India
Robert Findlay, Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
Hannu Fritze, Vantaa Research Centre, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa, Finland
D. Jay Grimes, The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, MS, USA
Akira Hiraishi, Dept. of Ecological Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Toyohashi, Japan
Manfred Höfle, GBF, National Research Center for Biotechnology, Braunschweig, German
Hojeong Kang, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
Thomas Kieft, Department of Biology, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA
Allan Konopka, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Michael Lemke, Biology Department, University of Illinois, Springfield, Springfield, IL, USA
Steven Lindow, Department of Plant and Microbial Ecology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Wen-Tso Liu, Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Yahai Lu, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Rod Mackie, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
Ralph Mitchell, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Yvan Moenne-Loccoz, Center For Microbial Ecology, University of Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
Gerard Muyzer, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Toshi Nagata, Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Japan
Andrew Ogram, Department of Soil and Water Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Hans W. Paerl, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Morehead City, NC, USA
Jim Prosser, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Marischal College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Kevin J. Purdy, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
Michael Schloter, Research Unit Environmental Genomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
Hauke Smidt, Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Gary Strobel, Department of Plant Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
Fabiano Lopes Thompson, Cidade Universitaria, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Jan Roelof Van Der Meer, Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Jorge Vivanco, Center for Rhizosphere Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Kimberley Warren-Rhodes, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 

Founding Editor:
Ralph Mitchell