《微生物學趨勢》提供了一個多學科論壇，討論微生物學的所有方面:從細胞生物學和免疫學到遺傳學和進化論，涵蓋病毒學、細菌學、原生動物學和真菌學。微生物學是目前生命科學中發展最快的學科之一，這也要感謝近年來的技術發展。小基因組完全測序的相對容易和快速開始對原核生物的所有領域產生重大影響，從病原體到極端微生物，并將推動新的發展，例如，在藥物、疫苗和工業酶研究。最近的國際發展也使人們對微生物學重新產生了興趣。目錄包括一個生動的混合評論，通信和審查。大多數文章都是委托撰寫的，而且都是經過同行評審的。因此，它們為教學和了解整個領域的發展奠定了權威的基礎。重點是分子微生物學和病毒學,包括基因組學等主題,全體宿主-病原體相互作用,植物和動物宿主免疫反應,毒性因素的特征和演變,細胞周期和分化,共生的植物和動物協會、環境微生物學、生物多樣性與進化、種群動態、性和誘變,抗生素耐藥性和生產,藥物和疫苗的目標,以及朊病毒疾病，真菌和原生動物生物學方面的研究。

Trends in Microbiology provides a multidisciplinary forum for the discussion of all aspects of microbiology: from cell biology and immunology to genetics and evolution, and ranges across virology, bacteriology, protozoology and mycology. Microbiology is, at present, one of the fastest moving disciplines in Life Sciences, thanks also to technological developments of the recent years. The relative ease and rapidity with which small genomes can be entirely sequenced is beginning to have significant impact on all areas of prokaryote biology, from pathogens to extremophiles, and will fuel new developments, for example, in drugs, vaccines and industrial enzyme research. Recent international developments are also responsible for a renewed interest in microbiology. The Table of Contents includes a lively mix of commentary, correspondence and review. Most articles are commissioned and all of them are peer-reviewed. Consequently, they make an authoritative basis for teaching and keeping abreast of developments across the field. The focus is on molecular microbiology and virology, and includes topics such as genomics, the gamut of plant and animal host-pathogen interactions, host immune responses, characterization and evolution of virulence determinants, cell cycle and differentiation, symbiosis in plant and animal associations, environmental microbiology, biodiversity and evolution, population dynamics, sex and mutagenesis, antibiotic resistance and production, drug and vaccine targets, as well as aspects of prion diseases and of fungal and protozoan biology.