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Marine Drugs
Special Issues
Chemical Defense in Marine Organisms, 3rd Edition
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Chemical Defense in Marine Organisms, 3rd Edition

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Chemoecology for Drug Discovery".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 4456

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chiara Lauritano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via F. Acton 55, 80133 Naples, Italy
Interests: microalgae; drug discovery; gene mining; marine biotechnology; transcriptomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Adrianna Ianora

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy
Interests: marine biotechnology; marine chemical ecology; drug discovery; marine organisms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Marine organisms have evolved several mechanisms to survive in extremely different and hostile environments in terms of light, temperature, salinity, pressure, and predation. The harsh chemical and physical conditions of the marine environment have favored the production of a great variety of molecules in marine organisms that are unique in terms of diversity, structural, and functional features. Chemical defenses include not only the production of toxins (e.g., during harmful algal blooms), but also a plethora of defensive metabolites, mainly secondary metabolites, produced after specific external stimuli. These compounds represent a large reservoir of new bioactive compounds with great pharmaceutical potential.

The third edition of the Special Issue “Chemical Defense in Marine Organisms” aims to collect papers with up-to-date findings on the chemical defensive strategies adopted by marine organisms in order to survive, as well as regarding chemical ecology and marine natural products with potential human applications. This Special Issue will also present recent discoveries related to the regulation and activation of biosynthetic pathways for the production of defensive metabolites.

Dr. Chiara Lauritano
Dr. Adrianna Ianora
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. Marine Drugs 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 2900 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

  • defense strategies
  • stress responses
  • toxins
  • secondary metabolites
  • marine organisms
  • enzymatic pathway activation
  • bioactive compounds
  • biotechnological applications

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Related Special Issues

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 2608 KiB  
Article
Viral Infection Leads to a Unique Suite of Allelopathic Chemical Signals in Three Diatom Host–Virus Pairs
by Bethanie R. Edwards, Kimberlee Thamatrakoln, Helen F. Fredricks, Kay D. Bidle and Benjamin A. S. Van Mooy
Mar. Drugs 2024, 22(5), 228; https://doi.org/10.3390/md22050228 - 17 May 2024
Viewed by 1587
Abstract
Ecophysiological stress and the grazing of diatoms are known to elicit the production of chemical defense compounds called oxylipins, which are toxic to a wide range of marine organisms. Here we show that (1) the viral infection and lysis of diatoms resulted in [...] Read more.
Ecophysiological stress and the grazing of diatoms are known to elicit the production of chemical defense compounds called oxylipins, which are toxic to a wide range of marine organisms. Here we show that (1) the viral infection and lysis of diatoms resulted in oxylipin production; (2) the suite of compounds produced depended on the diatom host and the infecting virus; and (3) the virus-mediated oxylipidome was distinct, in both magnitude and diversity, from oxylipins produced due to stress associated with the growth phase. We used high-resolution accurate-mass mass spectrometry to observe changes in the dissolved lipidome of diatom cells infected with viruses over 3 to 4 days, compared to diatom cells in exponential, stationary, and decline phases of growth. Three host virus pairs were used as model systems: Chaetoceros tenuissimus infected with CtenDNAV; C. tenuissimus infected with CtenRNAV; and Chaetoceros socialis infected with CsfrRNAV. Several of the compounds that were significantly overproduced during viral infection are known to decrease the reproductive success of copepods and interfere with microzooplankton grazing. Specifically, oxylipins associated with allelopathy towards zooplankton from the 6-, 9-, 11-, and 15-lipogenase (LOX) pathways were significantly more abundant during viral lysis. 9-hydroperoxy hexadecatetraenoic acid was identified as the strongest biomarker for the infection of Chaetoceros diatoms. C. tenuissimus produced longer, more oxidized oxylipins when lysed by CtenRNAV compared to CtenDNAV. However, CtenDNAV caused a more statistically significant response in the lipidome, producing more oxylipins from known diatom LOX pathways than CtenRNAV. A smaller set of compounds was significantly more abundant in stationary and declining C. tenuissimus and C. socialis controls. Two allelopathic oxylipins in the 15-LOX pathway and essential fatty acids, arachidonic acid (ARA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were more abundant in the stationary phase than during the lysis of C. socialis. The host–virus pair comparisons underscore the species-level differences in oxylipin production and the value of screening more host–virus systems. We propose that the viral infection of diatoms elicits chemical defense via oxylipins which deters grazing with downstream trophic and biogeochemical effects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Defense in Marine Organisms, 3rd Edition)
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21 pages, 5213 KiB  
Article
Metabolomics and Microbiomics Insights into Differential Surface Fouling of Three Macroalgal Species of Fucus (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) That Co-Exist in the German Baltic Sea
by Ernest Oppong-Danquah, Martina Blümel and Deniz Tasdemir
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(11), 595; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21110595 - 16 Nov 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2210
Abstract
The brown algal genus Fucus provides essential ecosystem services crucial for marine environments. Macroalgae (seaweeds) release dissolved organic matter, hence, are under strong settlement pressure from micro- and macrofoulers. Seaweeds are able to control surface epibionts directly by releasing antimicrobial compounds onto their [...] Read more.
The brown algal genus Fucus provides essential ecosystem services crucial for marine environments. Macroalgae (seaweeds) release dissolved organic matter, hence, are under strong settlement pressure from micro- and macrofoulers. Seaweeds are able to control surface epibionts directly by releasing antimicrobial compounds onto their surfaces, and indirectly by recruiting beneficial microorganisms that produce antimicrobial/antifouling metabolites. In the Kiel Fjord, in the German Baltic Sea, three distinct Fucus species coexist: F. vesiculosus, F. serratus, and F. distichus subsp. evanescens. Despite sharing the same habitat, they show varying fouling levels; F. distichus subsp. evanescens is the least fouled, while F. vesiculosus is the most fouled. The present study explored the surface metabolomes and epiphytic microbiota of these three Fucus spp., aiming to uncover the factors that contribute to the differences in the fouling intensity on their surfaces. Towards this aim, algal surface metabolomes were analyzed using comparative untargeted LC-MS/MS-based metabolomics, to identify the marker metabolites influencing surface fouling. Their epiphytic microbial communities were also comparatively characterized using high-throughput amplicon sequencing, to pinpoint the differences in the surface microbiomes of the algae. Our results show that the surface of the least fouling species, F. distichus subsp. evanescens, is enriched with bioactive compounds, such as betaine lipids MGTA, 4-pyridoxic acid, and ulvaline, which are absent from the other species. Additionally, it exhibits a high abundance of the fungal genera Mucor and Alternaria, along with the bacterial genus Yoonia-Loktanella. These taxa are known for producing antimicrobial/antifouling compounds, suggesting their potential role in the observed fouling resistance on the surface of the F. distichus subsp. evanescens compared to F. serratus and F. vesiculosus. These findings provide valuable clues on the differential surface fouling intensity of Fucus spp., and their importance in marine chemical defense and fouling dynamics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Defense in Marine Organisms, 3rd Edition)
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