Marine Pollutants: Biological and Abiotic Degradation Mechanisms

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Biochemistry, Biophysics and Computational Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 March 2023) | Viewed by 5072

Special Issue Editors

South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
Interests: bioaccumulation; marine ecosystem; toxicity; biotransformtaion; gut microbiota

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Guest Editor
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
Interests: Harmful algal blooms, parasitic dinoflagellate, marine host-associated microbiome, biology and ecology of marine dinoflagellates, molecular and physiological strategy of HAB species

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Guest Editor
Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shuangqing Road, Beijing 100085, China
Interests: air-sea exchange; biogeochemical cycling of heavy metals

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Guest Editor
School of Life Science, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, 273165, China
Interests: microbial fuel cell; bioelectrochemical system; environmental functional nanomaterials; wastewater treatment; oxygen reduction reaction; environmental science
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Guest Editor
College of marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China
Interests: ecotoxicology; marine emerging contaminants; persistent organic pollutants; toxic mechanism; hazard evaluation; lipid disturbance; neurobehavioral toxicity.

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The occurrence, fates and risks of pollutants have become an issue of concern due to their enhanced distribution in marine environments and their impacts on the marine ecosystem; these pollutants include persistent organic pollutants (POPs), heavy metals, emerging pollutants and marine biotoxins. Biological and abiotic degradation are the major sinks of marine pollutants, driving their fates and ecological risks in marine environments. Within the biotic degradation processes, marine pollutants may be susceptible to degradation by enzymes produced by bacteria, fungi, algae, and even macrobiota, whereas the abiotic degradation processes may be associated with hydrolysis and photolysis processes. In the natural marine environment, biotic and abiotic factors exist together and may exhibit a combined degradation mechanism.

In response to the worsening global climate change impacted by anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, worldwide attention has been paid to strategies for achieving carbon neutrality by the 2050s. Since the marine environment serves as a global reservoir and final sink of carbon, recent studies have proposed strategies for enhancing negative carbon emissions in marine ecosystems in order to support the achievement of carbon neutrality. The core of marine negative emission technologies is the maximization of the blue carbon sequestration driven by the “biological pump” and the minimization of the “degradative pump” for recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon (a kind of natural organic matter). Because the carbon cycling and sequestration in the ocean are coupled with the pollutant biogeochemical cycling and degradation processes, marine negative emission technologies may inevitably influence the distribution, transport and fate of pollutants in the marine environment. Determination of the impact of marine organisms and their released organic matter on the biotic and abiotic degradation processes of pollutants is important for understanding pollutant fates in the marine environment and for formulating relevant environmental policies.

Hence, this Special Issue aims to publish papers describing the most recent scientific advancements in the biotic and abiotic degradation processes of marine pollutants, as well as the characterization of the underlying mechanisms.

Dr. Rui Hou
Dr. Tiantian Chen
Dr. Chunjie Wang
Dr. Junfeng Chen
Dr. Xinxin Zhang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • marine pollutants
  • degradation pump
  • air–sea exchange
  • marine microalgae
  • biology and ecology of marine dinoflagellates
 
 

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5467 KiB  
Article
Biodiversity and Interannual Variation of Harmful Algal Bloom Species in the Coastal Sea of Qinhuangdao, China
by Yang Chen, Lu Wang, Zhiliang Liu, Du Su, Yibo Wang and Yanping Qi
Life 2023, 13(1), 192; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13010192 - 9 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1844
Abstract
For the frequent occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Qinhuangdao coastal sea (QCS) of the Bohai Sea in summer, we tested the hypothesis that high-biodiversity HAB species exist in the area, and a series of censuses of HAB species were conducted [...] Read more.
For the frequent occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Qinhuangdao coastal sea (QCS) of the Bohai Sea in summer, we tested the hypothesis that high-biodiversity HAB species exist in the area, and a series of censuses of HAB species were conducted in the QCS in the summers of 2014–2019. Through morphological identification, we found 100 algae species representing 42 genera in 3 phytoplankton phyla in this study, among which Bacillariophyta was the most dominant phylum. We also found that the population density of Dinoflagellata increased from 2016 to 2019. In total, 59 HAB species were annotated in this study, including 39 of Bacillariophyta, 18 of Dinoflagellata and 2 of Ochrophyta, of which 13 HAB species were reported in the Bohai Sea for the first time, and most HAB species were widely distributed in the QCS in summer. Notably, four dominant HAB species displayed unique temporal and spatial distribution characteristics, while their distribution ranges and population densities increased from 2014 to 2019. The distributions of five environmental factors were different in the QCS, while the temperature, salinity, and dissolved inorganic nitrogen might be the key environmental factors influencing the distribution of dominant HAB species in the summer. In conclusion, this study provides a detailed evaluation of phytoplankton diversity and interannual variation in the QCS. The existence of a high level of biodiversity of algal bloom species suggests the need for long-term monitoring in order to further study and prevent potential HABs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Pollutants: Biological and Abiotic Degradation Mechanisms)
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16 pages, 3746 KiB  
Article
Expression Profile of Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase-like 2 in Polychaete Perinereis aibuhitensis in Response to BPA
by Yingpeng Li, Huan Zhao, Min Pang, Yi Huang, Boxu Zhang, Dazuo Yang and Yibing Zhou
Life 2023, 13(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13010010 - 20 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2555
Abstract
Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (HSDs) play an important role in the metabolism of steroids and xenobiotics. However, the function of HSDs in invertebrates is unclear. In this study, we cloned the hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-like 2 (HSDL2) gene in Perinereis aibuhitensis, which is 1652 bp in [...] Read more.
Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (HSDs) play an important role in the metabolism of steroids and xenobiotics. However, the function of HSDs in invertebrates is unclear. In this study, we cloned the hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-like 2 (HSDL2) gene in Perinereis aibuhitensis, which is 1652 bp in length, encoding 400 amino acids. This sequence contains conserved short-chain dehydrogenase and sterol carrier protein-2 domain, and the alignment analysis showed its close relationship with other invertebrate HSDL2. Further, the tissue distribution analysis of the HSDL2 gene showed it is expressed strongly in the intestine. The expression level of HSDL2 after inducement with bisphenol A (BPA) was also detected both at transcriptional and translational levels. The results inferred that BPA exposure can induce HSDL2 expression, and the inductive effect was obvious in the high-concentration BPA group (100 μg/L). In summary, our results showed the detoxification function of HSDL2 in polychaetes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Pollutants: Biological and Abiotic Degradation Mechanisms)
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