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Marine Drugs Feb 2020Glycoconjugates play significant roles in biological systems and are used in medicine, for example as vaccines [...].
Glycoconjugates play significant roles in biological systems and are used in medicine, for example as vaccines [...].
Topics: Glycoconjugates; Marine Biology
PubMed: 32085418
DOI: 10.3390/md18020120 -
Marine Drugs Dec 2020By the end of the year 2020, there are nine marine-derived anticancer drugs available on the market, and the field is currently growing exponentially [...].
By the end of the year 2020, there are nine marine-derived anticancer drugs available on the market, and the field is currently growing exponentially [...].
Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Biological Products; Humans; Marine Biology; Marine Toxins; Neoplasms
PubMed: 33333876
DOI: 10.3390/md18120643 -
Annual Review of Marine Science Jan 2023The regular movements of waves and tides are obvious representations of the oceans' rhythmicity. But the rhythms of marine life span across ecological niches and... (Review)
Review
The regular movements of waves and tides are obvious representations of the oceans' rhythmicity. But the rhythms of marine life span across ecological niches and timescales, including short (in the range of hours) and long (in the range of days and months) periods. These rhythms regulate the physiology and behavior of individuals, as well as their interactions with each other and with the environment. This review highlights examples of rhythmicity in marine animals and algae that represent important groups of marine life across different habitats. The examples cover ecologically highly relevant species and a growing number of laboratory model systems that are used to disentangle key mechanistic principles. The review introduces fundamental concepts of chronobiology, such as the distinction between rhythmic and endogenous oscillator-driven processes. It also addresses the relevance of studying diverse rhythms and oscillators, as well as their interconnection, for making better predictions of how species will respond to environmental perturbations, including climate change. As the review aims to address scientists from the diverse fields of marine biology, ecology, and molecular chronobiology, all of which have their own scientific terms, we provide definitions of key terms throughout the article.
Topics: Animals; Aquatic Organisms; Biological Clocks; Marine Biology; Oceans and Seas; Ecosystem
PubMed: 36028229
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-marine-030422-113038 -
Marine Drugs Dec 2020
Topics: Biological Products; Biotechnology; Drug Discovery; Genome; Marine Biology; Synthetic Biology
PubMed: 33287181
DOI: 10.3390/md18120615 -
Marine Drugs Dec 2020Marine organisms inhabiting extreme habitats are a promising reservoir of bioactive compounds for drug discovery. Extreme environments, i.e., polar and hot regions, deep...
Marine organisms inhabiting extreme habitats are a promising reservoir of bioactive compounds for drug discovery. Extreme environments, i.e., polar and hot regions, deep sea, hydrothermal vents, marine areas of high pressure or high salinity, experience conditions close to the limit of life. In these marine ecosystems, "hot spots" of biodiversity, organisms have adopted a huge variety of strategies to cope with such harsh conditions, such as the production of bioactive molecules potentially valuable for biotechnological applications and for pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmeceutical sectors. Many enzymes isolated from extreme environments may be of great interest in the detergent, textile, paper and food industries. Marine natural products produced by organisms evolved under hostile conditions exhibit a wide structural diversity and biological activities. In fact, they exert antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The aim of this Special Issue "Bioactive Molecules from Extreme Environments" was to provide the most recent findings on bioactive molecules as well as enzymes isolated from extreme environments, to be used in biotechnological discovery pipelines and pharmaceutical applications, in an effort to encourage further research in these extreme habitats.
Topics: Animals; Aquatic Organisms; Biological Products; Extreme Environments; Marine Biology; Water Microbiology
PubMed: 33327603
DOI: 10.3390/md18120640 -
Marine Drugs Mar 2017In previous review articles the attention of the biocatalytically oriented scientific community towards the marine environment as a source of biocatalysts focused on the... (Review)
Review
In previous review articles the attention of the biocatalytically oriented scientific community towards the marine environment as a source of biocatalysts focused on the habitat-related properties of marine enzymes. Updates have already appeared in the literature, including marine examples of oxidoreductases, hydrolases, transferases, isomerases, ligases, and lyases ready for food and pharmaceutical applications. Here a new approach for searching the literature and presenting a more refined analysis is adopted with respect to previous surveys, centering the attention on the enzymatic process rather than on a single novel activity. Fields of applications are easily individuated: (i) the biorefinery value-chain, where the provision of biomass is one of the most important aspects, with aquaculture as the prominent sector; (ii) the food industry, where the interest in the marine domain is similarly developed to deal with the enzymatic procedures adopted in food manipulation; (iii) the selective and easy extraction/modification of structurally complex marine molecules, where enzymatic treatments are a recognized tool to improve efficiency and selectivity; and (iv) marine biomarkers and derived applications (bioremediation) in pollution monitoring are also included in that these studies could be of high significance for the appreciation of marine bioprocesses.
Topics: Animals; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biotechnology; Enzymes; Humans; Marine Biology
PubMed: 28346336
DOI: 10.3390/md15040093 -
Current Biology : CB Dec 2020Jeremy Goldbogen introduces blue whales, the largest animals to ever inhabit earth.
Jeremy Goldbogen introduces blue whales, the largest animals to ever inhabit earth.
Topics: Acoustics; Animals; Balaenoptera; Body Size; Ecosystem; Feeding Behavior; Marine Biology
PubMed: 33290699
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.10.068 -
Current Biology : CB Jun 2017The marine environment is the planet's largest, yet in many respects the least accessible. Our human sensory repertoire, with its emphasis on vision and air-adapted...
The marine environment is the planet's largest, yet in many respects the least accessible. Our human sensory repertoire, with its emphasis on vision and air-adapted hearing, does not serve us well underwater. Underwater vision is often limited and as divers we find hearing of little, or no, use. Yet we know from the physics that underwater sound has properties well suited to serve as sensory and communication channels for suitably-adapted marine animals. The rapidly developing area of marine bioacoustics seeks to characterise underwater sound in relation to the acoustic capability of particular species (acoustic habitat), and discover the role of acoustics in the lives of marine animals (acoustic ecology) (Clarke et al., 2011).
Topics: Acoustics; Animals; Aquatic Organisms; Hearing; Marine Biology; Oceans and Seas; Sound
PubMed: 28586687
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.01.041 -
Marine Drugs Feb 2017Polar organisms have been found to develop unique defences against the extreme environment environment, leading to the biosynthesis of novel molecules with diverse... (Review)
Review
Polar organisms have been found to develop unique defences against the extreme environment environment, leading to the biosynthesis of novel molecules with diverse bioactivities. This review covers the 219 novel natural products described since 2001, from the Arctic and the Antarctic microoganisms, lichen, moss and marine faunas. The structures of the new compounds and details of the source organism, along with any relevant biological activities are presented. Where reported, synthetic and biosynthetic studies on the polar metabolites have also been included.
Topics: Animals; Antarctic Regions; Aquatic Organisms; Arctic Regions; Biological Products; Humans; Marine Biology
PubMed: 28241505
DOI: 10.3390/md15030028 -
Journal of Fish Biology Aug 2022Marine historical ecology emerged in the scholarly literature with the aim of understanding long-term dynamics in marine ecosystems and the outcomes of past human-ocean... (Review)
Review
Marine historical ecology emerged in the scholarly literature with the aim of understanding long-term dynamics in marine ecosystems and the outcomes of past human-ocean interactions. The use of historical sources, which differ in temporal scale and resolution to most scientific monitoring data, present both opportunities and challenges for informing our understanding of past marine ecosystems and the ways in which human communities made use of them. With an emphasis upon marine social-ecological changes over the past 200 years, I present an overview of the relevant historical ecology literature and summarise how this approach generates a richer understanding of human-ocean interactions and the legacies associated with human-induced ecosystem change. Marine historical ecology methodologies continue to be developed, whereas expanded inter- and multidisciplinary collaborations provide exciting avenues for future discoveries. Beyond scholarship, historical ecology presents opportunities to foster a more sustainable relationship with oceans going forward: by challenging ingrained perceptions of what is "normal" within marine ecosystems, reconnecting human communities to the oceans and providing cautionary lessons and exemplars of sustainable human-ocean interactions from the past. To leverage these opportunities, scholars must work alongside practitioners, managers and policy makers to foster mutual understanding, explore new opportunities to communicate historical findings and address the challenges of integrating historical data into modern-day frameworks.
Topics: Animals; Ecology; Ecosystem; Humans; Marine Biology; Oceans and Seas
PubMed: 35061243
DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15000