Bacterial cellulose: Recent advances in biosynthesis, functionalization strategies and emerging applications

•Biosynthetic pathways and the resultant properties of bacterial cellulose (BC) are discussed.•Innovative strategies for functionalizing bacterial cellulose (BC) well elucidated.•Diverse emerging applications of bacterial cellulose (BC) are exhaustively discussed.•Exciting prospects and perspectives of bacterial cellulose (BC) in various applications are highlighted.