Microbes in Extreme Marine Environments

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 September 2023) | Viewed by 3411

Special Issue Editors

Department of Ecology and Biology (DEB), University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
Interests: biodiversity of microorganisms from extreme environments; microbial community structure and composition; microbial taxonomy; production of microbial enzymes and metabolites
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Institute of Polar Sciences (ISP), National Research Council, Spianata S. Raineri, 98122 Messina, Italy
Interests: marine microbiology; microbial ecology; environmental quality; marine monitoring; biogeochemical cycles; microbial enzymes; microbial viability; substrate colonization; plastisphere; bacterial pathogens; rapid detection methods; fish microflora and physiology; temperate and polar ecosystems
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Institute for Coastal Marine Environment, CNR, Spianata S. Raineri 86, 98122 Messina, Italy
Interests: studying microbial communities inhabiting extreme environments; their role in functioning of extreme ecosystems; as well as in isolating of new microbial taxa; genes; novel bioproducts and biomolecules for biotechnological applications
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
Interests: microbial ecology in extreme environments, microbial biotechnology; biodiversity and biotechnological applications of bacteria from extreme environments
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Institute of Polar Sciences (ISP), National Research Council, Spianata S. Raineri 86, 98122 Messina, Italy
Interests: polar ecosystems; biogeochemical cycles, marine microbiology; microbial biodiversity; microbial ecology; microbial activities; monitoring of protected marine areas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Oceans and seas are the largest expanses of Earth water and harbor the largest moiety of all planet life. The marine ecosystem is vast, and moving from the coastal to the oceanic areas, as well as along the oceanic zones, various marine extreme or sub-extreme environments occur. These marine environments (e.g., transitional areas, coastal and deep hypersaline habitats, cold seas, and hydrothermal vents) could be characterized by very high salt concentrations, high or rather low temperatures, low or high pH, or high-hydrostatic pressure. In addition, sudden and repeated variations and/or the combination of two or more extreme parameters could improve these extremophilic environments. Marine microorganisms living in these extremophilic or poly-extremophilic habitats are able to withstand different extreme conditions and represent an important reservoir of novel genes and bioactive molecules, such as enzymes (extremozymes) and other metabolites, having interesting features both in base and applied sciences. In this context, profiling the diversity of these marine microorganisms and their products is of essential importance to provide information on their ecology, functional role, and biotechnological potential.

This Special Issue is devoted to fundamental and applied aspects concerning the study of the microbial diversity of marine extreme environments (e.g., microbial composition, functionality, identification of new potential drugs) and aims to contribute to highlighting recent findings and acquiring a comprehensive perspective on the current status of this broad research field. Since some extreme marine environments are somehow underrated from a microbiological point of view, this Special Issue will also contribute to filling gaps in this growing research topic. All article types are welcome.

Dr. Susanna Gorrasi
Dr. Gabriella Caruso
Dr. Violetta La Cono
Prof. Dr. Concetta Gugliandolo
Dr. Maurizio Azzaro
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. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 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 2600 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

  • extreme marine environments
  • extremophilic marine microorganisms
  • microbial diversity
  • microbial functionality
  • microbial bioactive molecules
  • microbial biotechnology

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 4535 KiB  
Article
A Snapshot of the Taxonomic Composition and Metabolic Activity of the Microbial Community in an Arctic Harbour (Ny-Ålesund, Kongsfjorden, Svalbard)
by Simone Cappello, Francesco Smedile, Gabriella Caruso, Sabrina Patania, Alessia Lunetta and Maurizio Azzaro
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(5), 1018; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11051018 - 10 May 2023
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Abstract
Within the Svalbard archipelago, Kongsfjorden is an important marine ecosystem that is recognised as one of the main representative Arctic glacial fjords. Prokaryotic organisms are key drivers of important ecological processes such as carbon fluxes, nutrient mineralisation, and energy transfer, as well as [...] Read more.
Within the Svalbard archipelago, Kongsfjorden is an important marine ecosystem that is recognised as one of the main representative Arctic glacial fjords. Prokaryotic organisms are key drivers of important ecological processes such as carbon fluxes, nutrient mineralisation, and energy transfer, as well as sentinels of environmental pollution, especially in sediments, that are a repository of contaminants. In some areas of the Arctic, the structure and metabolic activity of the microbial community in the organic matter turnover and globally in the functioning of the benthic domain are mostly still unknown. A snapshot of the main microbial parameters such as bacterial abundance (by microscopic and plate counts), structure (by 16S rRNA sequencing), and metabolic activity was provided in Ny-Ålesund harbour, contextually in seawater and sediment samples. Fluorogenic substrates were used to assess the microbial ability to utilise organic substrates such as proteins, polysaccharides, and organic phosphates through specific enzymatic assays (leucine aminopeptidase—LAP, beta-glucosidase—ß-GLU, and alkaline phosphatase—AP, respectively). The metabolic profiles of psychrophilic heterotrophic bacterial isolates were also screened using a qualitative assay. The phylogenetic analysis of the microbial community revealed that Proteobacteria prevailed among the observed taxonomic groups. Several of the observed sequences were assigned to clones found in harbours, microbial biofilms, antifouling paints, or oil-polluted facilities of cold environments, highlighting a signature of human pressure on the polar habitat of Ny-Ålesund harbour. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes in Extreme Marine Environments)
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18 pages, 1316 KiB  
Article
Microbial Parameters as Predictors of Heterotrophic Prokaryotic Production in the Ross Sea Epipelagic Waters (Antarctica) during the Austral Summer
by Luis Salvador Monticelli, Gabriella Caruso, Filippo Azzaro, Maurizio Azzaro, Rosabruna La Ferla, Giovanna Maimone, Paolo Povero, Alessandro Cosenza and Renata Zaccone
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(12), 1812; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10121812 - 24 Nov 2022
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Abstract
A regression-based approach was used to test the suitability of a range of parameters, including total prokaryotic cell abundance and biomass, as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) content, and exoenzymatic activities (leucine aminopeptidase, LAP, beta-glucosidase, ß-G, and alkaline phosphatase, AP) as predictors of heterotrophic prokaryotic production [...] Read more.
A regression-based approach was used to test the suitability of a range of parameters, including total prokaryotic cell abundance and biomass, as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) content, and exoenzymatic activities (leucine aminopeptidase, LAP, beta-glucosidase, ß-G, and alkaline phosphatase, AP) as predictors of heterotrophic prokaryotic production (HPP) in the Ross Sea epipelagic waters. A close association between HPP and protein hydrolysis mediated by enzymatic activity (LAP), and to a lower significance level with the other variables, was recorded. Three multiple regression equations were developed from two microbial datasets collected during middle austral summer periods. All showed a good predictive ability for HPP, and this was further validated through a comparison between the predicted and the observed HPP values. The obtained regression equations proved to represent a promising example of empirical models for further predictive studies in the Ross Sea where—through the incorporation of additional microbiological and environmental parameters—the developed models could find a practical application to cover the entire austral summer period. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes in Extreme Marine Environments)
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