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International Summer School of Blue Biotechnology

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Biotechnology Related to Drug Discovery or Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 October 2025 | Viewed by 4330

Special Issue Editors


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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
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E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via F. Acton 55, 80133 Naples, Italy
Interests: marine natural products; biotechnological applications; marine microorganisms; fishing waste exploitation; bioactivity screening
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Acton 55, 80133 Napoli, Italy
Interests: blue economy; sustainability; Ocean Decade; marine bioprospecting
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Calabria Marine Centre, C. da Torre Spaccata, 87071 Amendolara, Italy
Interests: marine natural compounds; in vitro bioactivity; cell pathways
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The main focus of the International Summer School of Blue Biotechnology (ISSBB) is on current interdisciplinary approaches used for disclosing the biotechnological potential of marine resources and their use in the ecosustainable production of products and processes with beneficial effects on human and environmental health.

Utilizing resources and organisms from the marine environment to develop products and solutions for a variety of fields—including food production, medicine, energy, aquaculture, and the chemical industry—is known as "blue biotechnology". Seaweeds, microorganisms, and invertebrates are among the marine resources used as raw materials in the blue bioeconomy and biotechnology.

The aim of this Special Issue of Marine Drugs is to collect original articles, reviews, and communication dealing with any aspects of the marine biotechnology sector. The Special Issue collects contributions from PhD students, early-career researchers, and speakers on new findings and promising results presented at the Summer School or generated starting from collaboration established within the Summer School.

Dr. Chiara Lauritano
Dr. Daniela Coppola
Dr. Donatella De Pascale
Dr. Christian Galasso
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

  • blue biotechnology
  • marine (micro)organisms
  • fishing discards
  • bioactivity
  • marine natural products
  • biopolymers

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

37 pages, 2255 KB  
Review
Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Potential of the Mangrove Plant Sonneratia caseolaris: A Comprehensive Review
by Federico Cerri and Paolo Galli
Mar. Drugs 2025, 23(10), 378; https://doi.org/10.3390/md23100378 - 26 Sep 2025
Abstract
Mangroves represent a promising yet underexplored source of natural products. Sonneratia caseolaris (mangrove apple) is a widely distributed species with a long history of use in traditional medicine, and it is receiving increasing recognition for its bioactive secondary metabolites. Research has expanded in [...] Read more.
Mangroves represent a promising yet underexplored source of natural products. Sonneratia caseolaris (mangrove apple) is a widely distributed species with a long history of use in traditional medicine, and it is receiving increasing recognition for its bioactive secondary metabolites. Research has expanded in recent decades, but findings remain dispersed across diverse sources, complicating interpretation of its chemistry and pharmacological potential. This review consolidates four decades of investigations, documenting 141 identified compounds from studies largely restricted to India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and China and focusing on leaves, fruits, bark, stems, and twigs, with roots notably unexplored. The phytochemical profile is dominated by phenolic acids, flavonoids, and tannins, alongside terpenoids, steroids, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, and polysaccharides. The most extensively studied activities are antioxidant and antimicrobial, with extracts consistently exhibiting strong free-radical scavenging capacity and broad-spectrum antibacterial and antifungal effects, including efficacy against drug-resistant strains. Additional reports describe central nervous system depressant, antidiarrheal, metabolic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, and anti-allergic activities. In contrast, anticancer investigations remain scarce, despite promising outcomes reported for related mangrove taxa. By consolidating and critically evaluating the existing evidence, this review highlights the pharmacological potential of S. caseolaris and identifies key knowledge gaps to guide future marine drug discovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue International Summer School of Blue Biotechnology)
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56 pages, 1569 KB  
Review
Last Decade Insights in Exploiting Marine Microorganisms as Sources of New Bioactive Natural Products
by Costanza Ragozzino, Vincenza Casella, Alessandro Coppola, Silvia Scarpato, Carmine Buonocore, Antonella Consiglio, Fortunato Palma Esposito, Christian Galasso, Pietro Tedesco, Gerardo Della Sala, Donatella de Pascale, Laura Vitale and Daniela Coppola
Mar. Drugs 2025, 23(3), 116; https://doi.org/10.3390/md23030116 - 7 Mar 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3628
Abstract
Marine microorganisms have emerged as prolific sources of bioactive natural products, offering a large chemical diversity and a broad spectrum of biological activities. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in discovering and characterizing these compounds, pushed by technological innovations in [...] Read more.
Marine microorganisms have emerged as prolific sources of bioactive natural products, offering a large chemical diversity and a broad spectrum of biological activities. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in discovering and characterizing these compounds, pushed by technological innovations in genomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics. Furthermore, innovative isolation and cultivation approaches have improved the isolation of rare and difficult-to-culture marine microbes, leading to the identification of novel secondary metabolites. Advances in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering have further optimized natural product yields and the generation of novel compounds with improved bioactive properties. This review highlights key developments in the exploitation of marine bacteria, fungi, and microalgae for the discovery of novel natural products with potential applications in diverse fields, underscoring the immense potential of marine microorganisms in the growing Blue Economy sector. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue International Summer School of Blue Biotechnology)
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