Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is the official journal of the Royal Dutch Society for Microbiology, and we have joined forces to reinvigorate the journal as an outlet for high quality studies in the tradition of the Dutch School of Microbiology. The journal aims to publish papers on fundamental and applied aspects of microbiology. The topics covered range from molecular biology and genetics to microbial pathogenesis and bioinformatics.Manuscripts should either describe recent findings on fundamental mechanisms, new physiology, or present results on applied microbiology in the field of agriculture, food, medical or environmental sciences. New taxa descriptions must demonstrate scientific interest beyond minimum description requirements to warrant consideration for publication. Ideally, new taxa descriptions should be part of a broader scientific study including at least some physiological aspects and preferably a draft genome sequence, rather than a short note format. Authors submitting clinical microbiology and biotechnological manuscripts should consider whether their work is better suited for a more specialized journal.