Toxigenic and Regulatory Effects of Algal Toxins on Marine Life
A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine and Freshwater Toxins".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 448
Special Issue Editor
Interests: Bioactive Metabolites; Chemical Ecology; Infochemicals; Benthic Ecology; Diatom biocompounds; Biotechnology; Cyanobacteria physiology; Model Organisms; plant-animal interactions; Ocean Acidification
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Special Issue Information
Marine micro- and macroalgae are “living laboratories” producing plenty of bioactive compounds, whose identification and exploitation for biotechnological purposes are still in their infancy. In fact, plants have evolved several pathways for the production of secondary metabolites that have demonstrated to be useful for their defense, having deterrent or toxigenic effects. However, the continuous struggle for life has often modified the primary biological activity of these metabolites, thus producing an impressive communication network that combines toxic molecules used as defensive weapons and others with a regulatory function. Understanding the mechanisms of these activities and identifying the biomolecules prompting them may lead to biotechnological applications in various fields, including ecology, medicine, nutraceuticals. In addition, a clear understanding of plant–animal relationships will facilitate conservation activities, also according to the global changes that are influencing the ecology of marine biotas. This Special Issue aims at collecting novel research results on the diversity of bioactive compounds and toxigenic molecules from planktonic and benthic micro- and macroalgae, as well as at detecting key relationships between marine organisms to promote the identification of possible biotechnological applications. In particular, this Special Issue will welcome research papers about:
- Structural characterization of new toxins produced by marine microalgae and macroalgae;
- Structural characterization of regulatory compounds or infochemicals produced by marine microalgae and macroalgae;
- Main pathways of production of toxins and infochemicals from marine diatoms (e.g., oxylipins and lipoxygenase pathways) with special emphasis on newly discovered pathways;
- Main pathways of production of toxins and other bioactive compounds from planktonic microalgae and benthic seaweeds;
- Occurrence and first reports of biocompounds and infochemicals on a global scale and in less studied regions;
- Monitoring programs indicating the effects of algal blooms on marine biota and on human health, along with the identification of the main active compounds;
- Marine plants producers of bioactive compounds and environmental factors influencing their production and activity;
- Novel and improved methods of sampling, extraction, detection, and quantitation of toxigenic compounds (e.g., sensors, LC–MS-based techniques, in vitro bioassays) from marine algae.
Prof. Dr. Valerio Zupo
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- Plant-produced biomolecules
- Toxins
- Infochemicals
- Apoptogenic
- Analytical methods
- Environmental changes
- Plant–animal
- Interactions
- Microalgae
- Macroalgae
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