Marine Pigments

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 20770

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université, 17000 La Rochelle, France
Interests: marine natural products; microalgae; anticancer; pigments
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Guest Editor
Laboratoire Biologie des Organismes, Stress, Santé, Environnement (BiOSSE), Le Mans Université, Avenue Olivier Messiaen, 72085 Le Mans, France
Interests: diatom life cycle; Haslea genus; marennine; biotechnological applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The marine environment is a real colour palette that fascinates with its beauty and brilliant chromatic richness. Marine organisms are known to synthesise an exceptional diversity of natural pigments which ensure essential ecophysiological functions. The numerous studies carried out in the field have shown that these molecules are present in the majority of microorganisms (archaea, bacteria, moulds, yeasts, cyanobacteria and prochlorophytes, microalgae, protists, thraustochytrids) and marine macroorganisms (macroalgae, marine plants, sponges, cnidarians, worms, bryozoans, molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms, tunicates, vertebrates). They have remarkable chemical diversity (proteins, carbohydrates, porphyrins, carotenoids, MAA, indigoids, melanin derivatives, quinones, heterocycles, etc.) and considerable biotechnological and pharmacological potential for human and animal health (antioxidants, anti-cancer drugs, antivirals and antibacterials, chemosensitisers, antitumour and antibacterial photosensitisers, antiobesity, anti-inflammatory drugs, drug delivery, healing, etc.).

In this Special Issue, we invite you to discuss all aspects of marine pigments: their identification in original biological resources, the study of their biosynthesis pathways, their chemical diversity, their ecophysiological functions, the development and optimisation of their purification and production by biotechnological or chemical means, and their biotechnological and pharmacological applications, in the food, nutraceutical, cosmetic, and human and animal health sectors.

We hope that this Special Issue will provide a panoramic and in-depth overview of the state of the art of recent original research in the field of marine pigments, and invite researchers to submit reviews and reports of their most recent and innovative work, in order to continue to shed light on the multiple biotechnological and pharmacological functions and applications of marine pigments.

Dr. Laurent Picot
Prof. Dr. Jean-Luc Mouget
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Marine Drugs is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • Marine pigments
  • Astaxanthin
  • Fucoxanthin
  • Carotenoids
  • Chlorophylls
  • Phycobiliproteins
  • Tetrapyrroles
  • Quinones
  • Antiobesity
  • Anti-mutagenic activities
  • Antioxidants
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • Anti-cancer
  • Antibacterials

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 1276 KiB  
Article
The Polysaccharidic Nature of the Skeleton of Marennine as Determined by NMR Spectroscopy
by Ilhem Zebiri, Boris Jacquette, Nellie Francezon, Mickaël Herbaut, Amina Latigui, Sullivan Bricaud, Réjean Tremblay, Pamela Pasetto, Jean-Luc Mouget and Jens Dittmer
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(1), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21010042 - 4 Jan 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2132
Abstract
The water-soluble blue–green pigment marennine, produced and partly excreted by the diatom Haslea ostrearia, and known for a long time for its role in the greening of oysters, was isolated from the culture medium, purified, and analyzed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) [...] Read more.
The water-soluble blue–green pigment marennine, produced and partly excreted by the diatom Haslea ostrearia, and known for a long time for its role in the greening of oysters, was isolated from the culture medium, purified, and analyzed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) in order to gain insight into its chemical structure. The spectra show mainly carbohydrates of a complex composition, apparently highly branched, and with a mass in the order of 10 kDa. There are, in addition, some signals of aliphatic and, much weaker, aromatic groups that present aglycons. The latter might be responsible for the color. These carbohydrates are always associated with the blue–green color and cannot be separated from it by most treatments; they are interpreted as constituting the frame of the pigment. NMR after hydrolysis identifies the most abundant monosaccharides in marennine as galactose, xylose, mannose, rhamnose, and fucose. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Pigments)
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10 pages, 2113 KiB  
Article
Isolation and Characterization of a Yellow Xanthophyll Pigment-Producing Marine Bacterium, Erythrobacter sp. SDW2 Strain, in Coastal Seawater
by Sun Wook Jeong, Jung Eun Yang and Yong Jun Choi
Mar. Drugs 2022, 20(1), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/md20010073 - 14 Jan 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3174
Abstract
Xanthophylls, a yellow pigment belonging to the carotenoid family, have attracted much attention for industrial applications due to their versatile nature. We report the isolation of a homo xanthophyll pigment-producing marine bacterium, identified as the Erythrobacter sp. SDW2 strain, from coastal seawater. The [...] Read more.
Xanthophylls, a yellow pigment belonging to the carotenoid family, have attracted much attention for industrial applications due to their versatile nature. We report the isolation of a homo xanthophyll pigment-producing marine bacterium, identified as the Erythrobacter sp. SDW2 strain, from coastal seawater. The isolated Erythrobacter sp. SDW2 strain can produce 263 ± 12.9 mg/L (89.7 ± 5.4 mg/g dry cell weight) of yellow xanthophyll pigment from 5 g/L of glucose. Moreover, the xanthophyll pigment produced by the SDW2 strain exhibits remarkable antioxidative activities, confirmed by the DPPH (73.4 ± 1.4%) and ABTS (84.9 ± 0.7%) assays. These results suggest that the yellow xanthophyll pigment-producing Erythrobacter sp. SDW2 strain could be a promising industrial microorganism for producing marine-derived bioactive compounds with potential for foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Pigments)
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15 pages, 2295 KiB  
Article
Selection of Culture Conditions and Cell Morphology for Biocompatible Extraction of β-Carotene from Dunaliella salina
by Guillaume Tanguy, Aline Legat, Olivier Gonçalves, Luc Marchal and Benoît Schoefs
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(11), 648; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19110648 - 22 Nov 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3134
Abstract
Biocompatible extraction emerges recently as a means to reduce costs of biotechnology processing of microalgae. In this frame, this study aimed at determining how specific culture conditions and the associated cell morphology impact the biocompatibility and the extraction yield of β-carotene from the [...] Read more.
Biocompatible extraction emerges recently as a means to reduce costs of biotechnology processing of microalgae. In this frame, this study aimed at determining how specific culture conditions and the associated cell morphology impact the biocompatibility and the extraction yield of β-carotene from the green microalga Dunaliella salina using n-decane. The results highlight the relationship between the cell disruption yield and cell volume, the circularity and the relative abundance of naturally permeabilized cells. The disruption rate increased with both the cell volume and circularity. This was particularly obvious for volume and circularity exceeding 1500 µm3 and 0.7, respectively. The extraction of β-carotene was the most biocompatible with small (600 µm3) and circular cells (0.7) stressed in photobioreactor (30% of carotenoids recovery with 15% cell disruption). The naturally permeabilized cells were disrupted first; the remaining cells seems to follow a gradual permeabilization process: reversibility (up to 20 s) then irreversibility and cell disruption. This opens new carotenoid production schemes based on growing robust β-carotene enriched cells to ensure biocompatible extraction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Pigments)
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16 pages, 6827 KiB  
Article
Electrochromic Properties and Electrochemical Behavior of Marennine, a Bioactive Blue-Green Pigment Produced by the Marine Diatom Haslea ostrearia
by Nellie Francezon, Mickaël Herbaut, Jean-François Bardeau, Charles Cougnon, William Bélanger, Réjean Tremblay, Boris Jacquette, Jens Dittmer, Jean-Bernard Pouvreau, Jean-Luc Mouget and Pamela Pasetto
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(4), 231; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19040231 - 19 Apr 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2660
Abstract
Marennine has long been known as the unique peculiar pigment responsible for the natural greening of oysters. It is specifically produced by the marine diatom Haslea ostrearia and it is a natural blue molecule indeed promising for food industry because of the rarity [...] Read more.
Marennine has long been known as the unique peculiar pigment responsible for the natural greening of oysters. It is specifically produced by the marine diatom Haslea ostrearia and it is a natural blue molecule indeed promising for food industry because of the rarity of such non-toxic, blue-colored pigments. In the search for its still not defined molecular structure, investigation of the color changes with the redox state has been carried out combining different approaches. Reducing and oxidizing chemicals have been added to purified marennine solutions and a stable blue-green color has been confirmed for the oxidized state, while a yellow color corresponded to the reduced unstable state. Raman spectroscopy has been used to monitor changes in the Raman spectra corresponding to the different colored states, and cyclic voltammetry has allowed the detection of a redox system in which protons and electrons are exchanged. These findings show that marennine is a suitable stable blue pigment for use in food applications and help in the elucidation of the chromophore structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Pigments)
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Review

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31 pages, 11939 KiB  
Review
Archaea Carotenoids: Natural Pigments with Unexplored Innovative Potential
by Antoine Grivard, Isabelle Goubet, Luiz Miranda de Souza Duarte Filho, Valérie Thiéry, Sylvie Chevalier, Raimundo Gonçalves de Oliveira-Junior, Noureddine El Aouad, Jackson Roberto Guedes da Silva Almeida, Przemysław Sitarek, Lucindo José Quintans-Junior, Raphaël Grougnet, Hélène Agogué and Laurent Picot
Mar. Drugs 2022, 20(8), 524; https://doi.org/10.3390/md20080524 - 17 Aug 2022
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4323
Abstract
For more than 40 years, marine microorganisms have raised great interest because of their major ecological function and their numerous applications for biotechnology and pharmacology. Particularly, Archaea represent a resource of great potential for the identification of new metabolites because of their adaptation [...] Read more.
For more than 40 years, marine microorganisms have raised great interest because of their major ecological function and their numerous applications for biotechnology and pharmacology. Particularly, Archaea represent a resource of great potential for the identification of new metabolites because of their adaptation to extreme environmental conditions and their original metabolic pathways, allowing the synthesis of unique biomolecules. Studies on archaeal carotenoids are still relatively scarce and only a few works have focused on their industrial scale production and their biotechnological and pharmacological properties, while the societal demand for these bioactive pigments is growing. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of the current knowledge on carotenoid metabolism in Archaea and the potential applications of these pigments in biotechnology and medicine. After reviewing the ecology and classification of these microorganisms, as well as their unique cellular and biochemical characteristics, this paper highlights the most recent data concerning carotenoid metabolism in Archaea, the biological properties of these pigments, and biotechnological considerations for their production at industrial scale. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Pigments)
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10 pages, 998 KiB  
Review
What Do We Know about Antimicrobial Activity of Astaxanthin and Fucoxanthin?
by Tomasz M. Karpiński, Marcin Ożarowski, Rahat Alam, Małgorzata Łochyńska and Mark Stasiewicz
Mar. Drugs 2022, 20(1), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/md20010036 - 29 Dec 2021
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4078
Abstract
Astaxanthin (AST) and fucoxanthin (FUC) are natural xanthophylls, having multidirectional activity, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer. Both compounds also show antimicrobial activity, which is presented in this review article. There are few papers that have presented the antimicrobial activity of AST. Obtained antimicrobial [...] Read more.
Astaxanthin (AST) and fucoxanthin (FUC) are natural xanthophylls, having multidirectional activity, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer. Both compounds also show antimicrobial activity, which is presented in this review article. There are few papers that have presented the antimicrobial activity of AST. Obtained antimicrobial concentrations of AST (200–4000 µg/mL) are much higher than recommended by the European Food Safety Authority for consumption (2 mg daily). Therefore, we suggest that AST is unlikely to be of use in the clinical treatment of infections. Our knowledge about the antimicrobial activity of FUC is better and this compound acts against many bacteria already in low concentrations 10–250 µg/mL. Toxicological studies on animals present the safety of FUC application in doses 200 mg/kg body weight and higher. Taking available research into consideration, a clinical application of FUC as the antimicrobial substance is real and can be successful. However, this aspect requires further investigation. In this review, we also present potential mechanisms of antibacterial activity of carotenoids, to which AST and FUC belong. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Pigments)
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