Polar Marine Bacteria: From Physiology to Biotechnological Applications

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: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 1957

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Sciences, Federico II University of Naples, Complesso Universitario Monte S.- Angelo, Via Cintia, Naples, 80126, Italy
Interests: microbial physiology; microbial biotechnology; fermentation chemistry; drug discovery; prokaryotic molecular biology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polar marine bacteria face challenging conditions and to survive in such extreme conditions, they have developed specific mechanisms. The study of these mechanisms is stimulating from both a basic research and biotechnological perspective. The environmental selective pressure has driven the evolution of metabolic pathways responsible for synthesizing numerous enzymes, many of which are unique and possess intriguing biological properties. Furthermore, these bacteria have shown remarkable potential as sources of diverse extracellular metabolites with various biological activities, such as antibiotics, antitumor agents, surfactants, antibiofilm agents, and more. Despite the established interest in these bacteria, their full potential remains largely unexplored.

For this Special Issue, we invite researchers to submit reviews and original research articles that demonstrate new physiological and applicative studies on polar marine bacteria. We particularly welcome articles focusing on the discovery of bioactive molecules and cold-adapted enzymes, as well as the innovative use of these bacteria in biotechnological applications.

Prof. Dr. Ermenegilda Parrilli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • bioactive molecules
  • psychrophilic enzymes
  • marine bacteria
  • metabolomics
  • macromolecules
  • marine natural products
  • cold adaptation

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 4397 KiB  
Article
Functional Genomics of a Collection of Gammaproteobacteria Isolated from Antarctica
by Michele Giovannini, Walter Vieri, Emanuele Bosi, Christopher Riccardi, Angelina Lo Giudice, Renato Fani, Marco Fondi and Elena Perrin
Mar. Drugs 2024, 22(6), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/md22060238 - 23 May 2024
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Abstract
Antarctica, one of the most extreme environments on Earth, hosts diverse microbial communities. These microbes have evolved and adapted to survive in these hostile conditions, but knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying this process remains limited. The Italian Collection of Antarctic Bacteria ( [...] Read more.
Antarctica, one of the most extreme environments on Earth, hosts diverse microbial communities. These microbes have evolved and adapted to survive in these hostile conditions, but knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying this process remains limited. The Italian Collection of Antarctic Bacteria (Collezione Italiana Batteri Antartici (CIBAN)), managed by the University of Messina, represents a valuable repository of cold-adapted bacterial strains isolated from various Antarctic environments. In this study, we sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 58 marine Gammaproteobacteria strains from the CIBAN collection, which were isolated during Italian expeditions from 1990 to 2005. By employing genome-scale metrics, we taxonomically characterized these strains and assigned them to four distinct genera: Pseudomonas, Pseudoalteromonas, Shewanella, and Psychrobacter. Genome annotation revealed a previously untapped functional potential, including secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters and antibiotic resistance genes. Phylogenomic analyses provided evolutionary insights, while assessment of cold-shock protein presence shed light on adaptation mechanisms. Our study emphasizes the significance of CIBAN as a resource for understanding Antarctic microbial life and its biotechnological potential. The genomic data unveil new horizons for insight into bacterial existence in Antarctica. Full article
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16 pages, 2333 KiB  
Article
Cold-Azurin, a New Antibiofilm Protein Produced by the Antarctic Marine Bacterium Pseudomonas sp. TAE6080
by Caterina D’Angelo, Marika Trecca, Andrea Carpentieri, Marco Artini, Laura Selan, Maria Luisa Tutino, Rosanna Papa and Ermenegilda Parrilli
Mar. Drugs 2024, 22(2), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/md22020061 - 25 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1391
Abstract
Biofilm is accountable for nosocomial infections and chronic illness, making it a serious economic and public health problem. Staphylococcus epidermidis, thanks to its ability to form biofilm and colonize biomaterials, represents the most frequent causative agent involved in biofilm-associated infections of medical [...] Read more.
Biofilm is accountable for nosocomial infections and chronic illness, making it a serious economic and public health problem. Staphylococcus epidermidis, thanks to its ability to form biofilm and colonize biomaterials, represents the most frequent causative agent involved in biofilm-associated infections of medical devices. Therefore, the research of new molecules able to interfere with S. epidermidis biofilm formation has a remarkable interest. In the present work, the attention was focused on Pseudomonas sp. TAE6080, an Antarctic marine bacterium able to produce and secrete an effective antibiofilm compound. The molecule responsible for this activity was purified by an activity-guided approach and identified by LC-MS/MS. Results indicated the active protein was a periplasmic protein similar to the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 azurin, named cold-azurin. The cold-azurin was recombinantly produced in E. coli and purified. The recombinant protein was able to impair S. epidermidis attachment to the polystyrene surface and effectively prevent biofilm formation. Full article
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