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Marine Microorganisms and Their Biomolecules: Biodiversity, Physiological Adaptation and Biotechnological...
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Marine Microorganisms and Their Biomolecules: Biodiversity, Physiological Adaptation and Biotechnological Applications

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 January 2025 | Viewed by 3904

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Vincenzo Zammuto

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D’Alcontres 31, Messina, 98166, Italy
Interests: microbial ecology in extremely hot environments; applied and environmental microbiology; adaptation strategies and resistance of extremophilic bacilli; environmental biotechnologies; marine biotechnologies; astrobiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Maria Papale

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Polar Sciences, National Research Council, Messina, (ISP-CNR), Via S. Raineri 86, Messina, Italy
Interests: microbial ecology in extremely cold environments; microbial communities composition; microbial response to anthropogenic and natural pollutants; eDNA metagenome and target analyses
Dr. Maria Giovanna Rizzo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno D’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Interests: physiological adaptation; cell physiology; evaluation of cellular response to new biocompounds and biomaterials; biotechnology and bioengineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We encourage you to submit our manuscript to this Special Issue on “Marine Microorganisms and Their Biomolecules: Biodiversity, Physiological Adaptation and Biotechnological Applications” in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. Marine microorganisms, including archaea, bacteria, fungi, and microalgae, have developed various strategies and physiological adaptation to diverse environments characterized by fluctuating temperatures, salinity, pH, and nutrients. One such strategy is the ability to biosynthesize many different molecules belonging to both primary and secondary metabolites with unique chemical structures. These molecules, which have attracted significant attention, can be used in improve environmental health as sorbent materials, dispersants, and antitoxic substances and human health as antioxidants, immunostimulants, antimicrobials, and antivirals.

Natural active products of microbial origin, especially those originating from almost unexplored marine environments, have attracted and continue to interest numerous fields of application from pharmaceuticals to environmental bioremediation. Furthermore, this has been revitalized by recent technological and scientific advances in genomic approaches and synthetic microbiology. This Special Issue invites experimental studies, reviews, and distributional investigations on any aspect of microbial diversity related to ecology, molecular biology, physiology, and biotechnology, as well as eukaryotes and prokaryotes in the marine environment.

Thank you for your consideration.

Dr. Vincenzo Zammuto
Dr. Maria Papale
Dr. Maria Giovanna Rizzo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • marine microbes
  • biodiversity
  • physiological adaptation
  • biomolecules
  • ecology

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3820 KiB  
Article
Microbial Mat Dominated by Amphora spp. and Their Adaptative Strategies in an Arsenic-Rich Brackish Pond
by Eleonora Agostino, Angela Macrì, Vincenzo Zammuto, Michela D’Alessandro, Marco Sebastiano Nicolò, Salvatore Giacobbe and Concetta Gugliandolo
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2024, 12(11), 1966; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12111966 - 1 Nov 2024
Viewed by 447
Abstract
Marine diatoms are essential members of both phytoplankton and phytobenthic communities, able to colonize submerged artificial and natural surfaces, contributing to benthic microbial biomass. Diatoms have developed different adaptative mechanisms to cope with various environmental stresses, including high concentrations of heavy metals. The [...] Read more.
Marine diatoms are essential members of both phytoplankton and phytobenthic communities, able to colonize submerged artificial and natural surfaces, contributing to benthic microbial biomass. Diatoms have developed different adaptative mechanisms to cope with various environmental stresses, including high concentrations of heavy metals. The aim of this study was to investigate the arsenic resistance of diatoms, isolated from microbial mats collected from an arsenic-rich brackish pond (Lake Mergolo della Tonnara, Italy), by evaluating (i) their ability to form biofilms in the presence of arsenite (AsIII) or arsenate (AsV), and (ii) the variations in the photosynthetic pigments’ contents (i.e., chlorophyll a and c) in their biofilms. The mats were dominated by members of the genus Amphora, and isolates were affiliated with species of A. capitellata, A. coffeaeformis, and A. montana. The strains grew better in the presence of AsV than AsIII, which is generally less toxic. After seven days of incubation, each strain exhibited a different ability to form biofilms on glass surfaces in the presence of arsenic (25 ppm), with A. montana strain 27 being the most effective (86%) in the presence of AsIII, and A. coffeaeformis strain 26 (74%) with AsV. Photosynthetic pigment levels (chlorophyll a and c) differed in each biofilm, being poorly reduced by AsIII in strain 27, and by AsV in strain 26, indicating a species-specific response to arsenic stress. Our results indicated that Amphora species thriving in this environment can form biofilms as an As-resistance mechanism, maintain their levels of photosynthetic pigments, and support the functioning of the pond ecosystem, with A. montana being favored in the presence of AsIII, whereas A. coffeaeformis 26 in the presence of AsV. As producers of biofilms, these strains could be useful to develop new strategies to remediate arsenic pollution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Microorganisms and Their Biomolecules: Biodiversity, Physiological Adaptation and Biotechnological Applications)
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16 pages, 3526 KiB  
Article
Enhancement of Biodegradation and Detoxification of Methylene Blue by Preformed Biofilm of Thermophilic Bacilli on Polypropylene Perforated Balls
by Vincenzo Zammuto, Angela Macrì, Eleonora Agostino, Lorenzo Maria Ruggeri, Maria Teresa Caccamo, Salvatore Magazù, Victor L. Campos, Paulina Aguayo, Salvatore Guglielmino and Concetta Gugliandolo
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2024, 12(8), 1248; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12081248 - 23 Jul 2024
Viewed by 741
Abstract
Microbial degradation represents an eco-friendly alternative to traditional physicochemical treatments in removing persistent and toxic environmental pollutants, including synthetic dyes (i.e., methylene blue, MB) employed in different industries. The exploitation of thermophilic bacilli, such as those isolated from the shallow hydrothermal vents of [...] Read more.
Microbial degradation represents an eco-friendly alternative to traditional physicochemical treatments in removing persistent and toxic environmental pollutants, including synthetic dyes (i.e., methylene blue, MB) employed in different industries. The exploitation of thermophilic bacilli, such as those isolated from the shallow hydrothermal vents of the Eolian Islands (Italy), could provide valuable resources for the treatment of warm, dye-containing wastewater. In this study, we evaluated the ability of preformed biofilms on polypropylene perforated balls (BBs) of fifteen thermophilic bacilli, to decolor, degrade, and detoxify MB in aqueous solutions. Among them, BBs of Bacillus licheniformis B3-15 and Bacillus sp. s7s-1 were able to decolorize MB more than 50% in saline solution (NaCl 2%), incubated in static conditions at 45 °C for 48 h. At optimized initial conditions (10 mg L−1 MB, pH 5.2 for B3-15 or pH 4 for s7s-1), the two strains enhanced their decolorization potential, reaching 96% and 67%, respectively. As indicated by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, the treatment with BB B3-15 was the most efficient in degrading the Cl–C and –NH groups of MB. This degraded solution was 40% less toxic than undegraded MB, and it has no impact on the bioluminescence of Vibrio harveyi, nor the growth of the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Biofilm formed by strain B3-15 on polypropylene perforated balls could be proposed as a component of bioreactors in the treatment of warm, dye-containing wastewater to concomitantly remediate MB pollution and simultaneously counteract harmful effects in aquatic environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Microorganisms and Their Biomolecules: Biodiversity, Physiological Adaptation and Biotechnological Applications)
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16 pages, 1946 KiB  
Article
Polyhydroxybutyrate Production from the Macroalga Rugulopteryx okamurae: Effect of Hydrothermal Acid Pretreatment
by Agustín Romero-Vargas, Luis Alberto Fdez-Güelfo, Ana Blandino and Ana Belén Díaz
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2024, 12(7), 1228; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12071228 - 21 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1107
Abstract
This study focuses on mitigating the socio-economic and environmental damage of the invasive macroalga Rugulopteryx okamurae and counteracting the pollution from petroleum-based plastics by using the alga as a feedstock for polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production. The enzymatic hydrolysis of R. okamurae, non-pretreated and hydrothermally [...] Read more.
This study focuses on mitigating the socio-economic and environmental damage of the invasive macroalga Rugulopteryx okamurae and counteracting the pollution from petroleum-based plastics by using the alga as a feedstock for polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production. The enzymatic hydrolysis of R. okamurae, non-pretreated and hydrothermally acid-pretreated (0.2 N HCl, 15 min), was carried out, reaching reducing sugar (RS) concentrations of 10.7 g/L and 21.7 g/L, respectively. The hydrolysates obtained were used as a culture medium for PHB production with Cupriavidus necator, a Gram-negative soil bacterium, without supplementation with any external carbon and nitrogen sources. The highest yield (0.774 g PHB/g RS) and biopolymer accumulation percentage (89.8% cell dry weight, CDW) were achieved with hydrolysates from pretreated macroalga, reaching values comparable to the highest reported in the literature. Hence, it can be concluded that hydrolysates obtained from algal biomass hydrothermally pretreated with acid have a concentration of sugars and a C/N ratio that favour PHB production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Microorganisms and Their Biomolecules: Biodiversity, Physiological Adaptation and Biotechnological Applications)
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20 pages, 3452 KiB  
Article
Extracts from Microalgae and Archaea from the Andalusian Coast: A Potential Source of Antiproliferative, Antioxidant, and Preventive Compounds
by Cristina Luque, Gloria Perazzoli, Patricia Gómez-Villegas, Javier Vigara, Rosario Martínez, Alejandro García-Beltrán, Jesús M. Porres, Jose Prados, Rosa León and Consolación Melguizo
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2024, 12(6), 996; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12060996 - 14 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1092
Abstract
Marine and extreme environments harbor a huge diversity of microorganisms able to produce new bioactive metabolites with beneficial health effects. In this study, ethanol, aqueous, methanol, and acetone extracts and protein hydrolysates were obtained from five different microalgae species and two haloarchaea. An [...] Read more.
Marine and extreme environments harbor a huge diversity of microorganisms able to produce new bioactive metabolites with beneficial health effects. In this study, ethanol, aqueous, methanol, and acetone extracts and protein hydrolysates were obtained from five different microalgae species and two haloarchaea. An in vitro study of cytotoxicity, migration, angiogenic effect, antioxidant capacity, and modulation of detoxifying enzyme expression was carried out using resistant (HCT-15) and non-resistant (T84) colon cancer tumor lines. Our results showed that the aqueous extract of the microalga Chlorella sorokiniana induced the greatest cytotoxic effect in both cell lines, while the ethanolic extracts of the archaea Haloarcula hispanica and Halobacterium salinarum caused the greatest inhibition on the migratory capacity. Meanwhile, the protein hydrolyzate and the aqueous extract of the microalga Chlorella sorokiniana significantly protected cells against hydrogen peroxide damage. Moreover, the aqueous extracts of Haloarcula hispanica and Halobacterium salinarum resulted in inducing the greatest increase in the activity of the detoxifying enzymes enzyme quinone oxidoreductase and glutathione S-transferase. These preliminary results suggest that aqueous extracts of some microalgae and haloarchaea may be promising candidates for an adjuvant therapy against colorectal cancer. However, additional research is required to identify the active principles and elucidate the mechanisms of action involved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Microorganisms and Their Biomolecules: Biodiversity, Physiological Adaptation and Biotechnological Applications)
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