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Microorganisms
Special Issues
Marine Microbes: Biotechnological Potential for Processes and Molecules
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Marine Microbes: Biotechnological Potential for Processes and Molecules

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2023) | Viewed by 10802

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tedesco Pietro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Acton 55, 80133 Naples, Italy
Interests: antimicrobials; biosurfactants; synthetic biology; microbial cell factories; bioactive molecules; biotechnological applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Christian Galasso

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Calabria Marine Centre, C.da Torre Spaccata, 87071 Amendolara, Italy
Interests: marine natural products; marine fungi; marine microalgae; in vitro bioactivity
Dr. Donatella De Pascale

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale Naples, 80125 Naples, Italy
Interests: isolating novel microbial strains from extreme marine environments; novel drug discoveries
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The marine environment is the largest aquatic ecosystem on the planet, and it has peculiar features that result from the unique combination of several physical factors. These features have shaped the characteristics and properties of the biome that inhabit that area and in particular of microorganisms. These have developed different molecular mechanisms to thrive in these habitats and cope with changes in nutrient availability, salinity, temperature, pH, pressure, and more recently with the effects of anthropic pollution. All these adaptations have resulted in an immense number of molecules, biocatalysts, and microbial processes that are of great value for biotechnology.

Secondary metabolites from marine bacteria are considered a great source of drugs to treat multidrug-resistant bacteria, cancer, and many other diseases. Marine bacteria are also of great value for the remediation of polluted areas thanks to their capability to tolerate and degrade hazardous compounds, including hydrocarbons and plastic polymers. The development of NGS technologies and the consequent advent of genomics have deeply contributed to increasing the rate of discovery of compounds and enzymes from these microorganisms.

The aim of this Special Issue is to gather new relevant papers reporting the latest advances and discoveries in the field of marine microbial biotechnology. For this purpose, I invite you to submit research articles, review articles, and short communications related to the application of marine microorganisms, including natural product discovery, biocatalyst discovery, bioremediation, and use of microorganisms for industrial processes. As Guest Editors of this Special Issue, we look forward to reviewing your submissions and, together, defining the present state of the science.

Dr. Tedesco Pietro
Dr. Christian Galasso
Dr. Donatella De Pascale
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. Microorganisms 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 2700 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 microorganisms
  • bioremediation
  • marine natural products
  • marine biocatalysts
  • sustainable processes
  • marine microbial enzymes

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2293 KiB  
Article
Purification and Characterization of a DegP-Type Protease from the Marine Bacterium Cobetia amphilecti KMM 296
by Yulia Noskova, Oksana Son, Liudmila Tekutyeva and Larissa Balabanova
Microorganisms 2023, 11(7), 1852; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11071852 - 21 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1416
Abstract
A new member of the DegP-type periplasmic serine endoproteases of the S1C family from the marine bacterium Cobetia amphilecti KMM 296 (CamSP) was expressed in Escherichia coli cells. The calculated molecular weight, number of amino acids, and isoelectric point (pI) of the mature [...] Read more.
A new member of the DegP-type periplasmic serine endoproteases of the S1C family from the marine bacterium Cobetia amphilecti KMM 296 (CamSP) was expressed in Escherichia coli cells. The calculated molecular weight, number of amino acids, and isoelectric point (pI) of the mature protein CamSP are 69.957 kDa, 666, and 4.84, respectively. The proteolytic activity of the purified recombinant protease CamSP was 2369.4 and 1550.9 U/mg with the use of 1% bovine serum albumin (BSA) and casein as the substrates, respectively. The enzyme CamSP exhibited maximum activity at pH 6.0–6.2, while it was stable over a wide pH range from 5.8 to 8.5. The optimal temperature for the CamSP protease activity was 50 °C. The enzyme required NaCl or KCl at concentrations of 0.3 and 0.5 M, respectively, for its maximum activity. The Michaelis constant (Km) and Vmax for BSA were determined to be 41.7 µg/mL and 0.036 µg/mL min−1, respectively. The metal ions Zn2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, Li2+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ slightly activated CamSP, while the addition of CoCl2 to the incubation mixture resulted in a twofold increase in its protease activity. Ethanol, isopropanol, glycerol, and Triton-X-100 increased the activity of CamSP from two- to four-times. The protease CamSP effectively degraded the wheat flour proteins but had no proteolytic activity towards soybean, corn, and the synthetic substrates, α-benzoyl-Arg-p-nitroanilide (BAPNA) and N-Succinyl-L-alanyl-L-alanyl-L-prolyl-L-phenylalanine 4-nitroanilide (SAPNA). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Microbes: Biotechnological Potential for Processes and Molecules)
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15 pages, 2745 KiB  
Article
Distribution Patterns of Benthic Protist Communities Depending on Depth Revealed by Environmental Sequencing—From the Sublittoral to the Deep Sea
by Manon Dünn and Hartmut Arndt
Microorganisms 2023, 11(7), 1664; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11071664 - 26 Jun 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1220
Abstract
Protists are key components of the microbial food web in marine pelagic systems because they link algal and bacterial production to higher trophic levels. However, their functioning and bathymetric distribution in benthic deep-sea ecosystems are still only poorly understood. However, biogeographical patterns of [...] Read more.
Protists are key components of the microbial food web in marine pelagic systems because they link algal and bacterial production to higher trophic levels. However, their functioning and bathymetric distribution in benthic deep-sea ecosystems are still only poorly understood. However, biogeographical patterns of communities can be coupled to the functioning of ecosystems and are therefore important to understand ecological and evolutionary processes. In this study, we investigated the diversity and distribution of benthic protist communities from the sublittoral down to the deep seafloor (50–2000 m) around three islands of the Azores in the North Atlantic Ocean. Using amplicon sequencing of the V9 region (18S rDNA) of 21 samples, we found that protist community compositions from different depths were significantly different. Three assemblages were separated along the following depths: 50 m, 150–500 m and 1000–2000 m, which indicate that deep-sea areas surrounding islands might act as isolating barriers for benthic protist species. A limited gene flow between the communities could favor speciation processes, leading to the unique protist communities found at the different investigated islands. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Microbes: Biotechnological Potential for Processes and Molecules)
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13 pages, 1321 KiB  
Article
Identification of a Green Algal Strain Collected from the Sarno River Mouth (Gulf of Naples, Italy) and Its Exploitation for Heavy Metal Remediation
by Lucia Barra, Angela Sardo, Maria Moros, Arianna Smerilli, Pasquale Chiaiese, Isabella Percopo, Elena Cavalletti, Christian Castro-Hinojosa and Sergio Balzano
Microorganisms 2022, 10(12), 2445; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10122445 - 10 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1668
Abstract
Heavy metals (HMs) can induce both chronic and acute harmful effects on marine and freshwater biota. The environmental impact of HMs in freshwater, seawater, soil, and wastewater can be limited using microbes, including microalgae, that are able to remove metals from environmental matrices. [...] Read more.
Heavy metals (HMs) can induce both chronic and acute harmful effects on marine and freshwater biota. The environmental impact of HMs in freshwater, seawater, soil, and wastewater can be limited using microbes, including microalgae, that are able to remove metals from environmental matrices. Indeed, they can passively adsorb and actively accumulate these persistent pollutants within their organelles, limiting their detrimental effects on cellular metabolism. The Sarno River is a 30 km long freshwater stream located in Southern Italy, polluted by partially untreated municipal, agricultural, and industrial wastewaters. In spite of this, microalgal cultures from Sarno River or Sarno River Mouth have never been established. In the present study, we isolated a green algal strain from the Sarno River Mouth and determined its ability to grow in polluted seawater containing different concentrations of cadmium, lead, or zinc. This strain was found to be able to accumulate these elements within its biomass in a dose-dependent manner. Growth inhibition experiments confirm the relatively low toxicity of Cd and Pb below 50 µM, while algal growth was seriously affected in Zn-amended media. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study focused on the ability of microalgae from Sarno River Mouth to tolerate and uptake HMs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Microbes: Biotechnological Potential for Processes and Molecules)
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20 pages, 11546 KiB  
Article
Screening for Hyperthermophilic Electrotrophs for the Microbial Electrosynthesis of Organic Compounds
by Rabja Maria Popall, Alenica Heussner, Sven Kerzenmacher, Pierre-Pol Liebgott and Guillaume Pillot
Microorganisms 2022, 10(11), 2249; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10112249 - 14 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2282
Abstract
Microbial electrosynthesis has recently emerged as a promising technology for the sustainable production of organic acids, bioplastics, or biofuels from electricity and CO2. However, the diversity of catalysts and metabolic pathways is limited to mainly mesophilic acetogens or methanogens. Here, eleven [...] Read more.
Microbial electrosynthesis has recently emerged as a promising technology for the sustainable production of organic acids, bioplastics, or biofuels from electricity and CO2. However, the diversity of catalysts and metabolic pathways is limited to mainly mesophilic acetogens or methanogens. Here, eleven hyperthermophilic strains related to Archaeoglobales, Thermococcales, Aquificales, and methanogens were screened for microbial electrosynthesis. The strains were previously isolated from deep-sea hydrothermal vents, where a naturally occurring, spontaneous electrical current can serve as a source of energy for microbial metabolism. After 6 days of incubation in an electrochemical system, all strains showed current consumption, biofilm formation, and small organic molecule production relative to the control. Six selected strains were then incubated over a longer period of time. In the course of one month, a variety of metabolic intermediates of biotechnological relevance such as succinic acid and glycerol accumulated. The production rates and the promotion of specific metabolic pathways seemed to be influenced by the experimental conditions, such as the concentration of CO2 in the gas phase and electron acceptor limitation. Further work is necessary to clearly identify these effects to potentially be able to tune the microbial electrosynthesis of compounds of interest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Microbes: Biotechnological Potential for Processes and Molecules)
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17 pages, 3561 KiB  
Article
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) Biopolymer Synthesis by Marine Bacteria of the Malaysian Coral Triangle Region and Mining for PHA Synthase Genes
by Athraa Alsaadi, Sree Selva Kumar Ganesen, Tan Suet May Amelia, Radwa Moanis, Eveline Peeters, Sevakumaran Vigneswari and Kesaven Bhubalan
Microorganisms 2022, 10(10), 2057; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10102057 - 18 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2656
Abstract
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a biodegradable and plastic-like biopolymer, has been receiving research and industrial attention due to severe plastic pollution, resource depletion, and global waste issues. This has spurred the isolation and characterisation of novel PHA-producing strains through cultivation and non-cultivation approaches, with a [...] Read more.
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a biodegradable and plastic-like biopolymer, has been receiving research and industrial attention due to severe plastic pollution, resource depletion, and global waste issues. This has spurred the isolation and characterisation of novel PHA-producing strains through cultivation and non-cultivation approaches, with a particular interest in genes encoding PHA synthesis pathways. Since sea sponges and sediment are marine benthic habitats known to be rich in microbial diversity, sponge tissues (Xestospongia muta and Aaptos aaptos) and sediment samples were collected in this study from Redang and Bidong islands located in the Malaysian Coral Triangle region. PHA synthase (phaC) genes were identified from sediment-associated bacterial strains using a cultivation approach and from sponge-associated bacterial metagenomes using a non-cultivation approach. In addition, phylogenetic diversity profiling was performed for the sponge-associated bacterial community using 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (16S rRNA) amplicon sequencing to screen for the potential presence of PHA-producer taxa. A total of three phaC genes from the bacterial metagenome of Aaptos and three phaC genes from sediment isolates (Sphingobacterium mizutaii UMTKB-6, Alcaligenes faecalis UMTKB-7, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus UMTKB-8) were identified. Produced PHA polymers were shown to be composed of 5C to nC monomers, with previously unreported PHA-producing ability of the S. mizutaii strain, as well as a 3-hydroxyvalerate-synthesising ability without precursor addition by the A. calcoaceticus strain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Microbes: Biotechnological Potential for Processes and Molecules)
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