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Polysaccharides from Marine Environment

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: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 4296

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Marine environments are a rich reservoir of natural products, with carbohydrates, particularly polysaccharides, playing a prominent role due to their wide-ranging biological and industrial applications. These marine-derived polysaccharides, produced by a diverse array of organisms including algae, crustaceans, bacteria, cyanobacteria, actinobacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms, have demonstrated significant potential as antitumorals, anticoagulants, antivirals, and immunomodulants. Many of these compounds, such as alginates, carrageenans, fucoidans, chitin, xanthan, gellan, and pullulan, are already commercially utilized, especially within the food industry.

The structural diversity of marine polysaccharides is closely linked to their origin: marine animal polysaccharides include chitin, chitosan, chondroitin sulfate, and marine glycosaminoglycans; seaweeds polysaccharides are found in brown algae (fucoidan, alginate, and laminarin), red algae (carrageenan, agar), and green algae (ulvan); marine microbial sources can produce exopolysaccharides but also contain structural and intracellular polysaccharides. This diversity influences their functional properties and bioactivities, which are increasingly harnessed in the development of functional foods and pharmaceutical products.

This Special Issue of Marine Drugs, titled “Polysaccharides from Marine Environment,” invites contributions that advance understanding in all aspects related to marine polysaccharides and oligosaccharides—from extraction methods and structural analysis to their biological activities and future applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Dr. Celine Laroche
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Marine Drugs 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 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

  • polysaccharides
  • oligosaccharides
  • bioactivity
  • functional properties
  • chitin
  • chitosan
  • fucoidan
  • alginate
  • laminarin
  • carrageenan
  • agar
  • ulvan

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 2998 KB  
Article
Transcriptomic Insights into Metabolic Reprogramming and Exopolysaccharide Synthesis in Porphyridium purpureum Under Gradual Nitrogen Deprivation
by Maurean Guerreiro, Coline Emmanuel, Céline Dupuits, Christine Gardarin, Said Mouzeyar, João Varela, Jane Roche and Céline Laroche
Mar. Drugs 2026, 24(1), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/md24010040 - 13 Jan 2026
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1713
Abstract
Porphyridium species are known red microalgae for producing valuable bioactive compounds such as sulfated exopolysaccharides (EPS) with diverse industrial biomedical applications due to their functional and rheological properties. Recent studies have investigated how abiotic stresses, particularly nitrogen deprivation, affect Porphyridium’s metabolic regulation [...] Read more.
Porphyridium species are known red microalgae for producing valuable bioactive compounds such as sulfated exopolysaccharides (EPS) with diverse industrial biomedical applications due to their functional and rheological properties. Recent studies have investigated how abiotic stresses, particularly nitrogen deprivation, affect Porphyridium’s metabolic regulation and EPS production through transcriptomic analysis. Still, the mechanisms governing EPS biosynthesis and the involvement of carbohydrate-activated enzymes (CAZymes) remain poorly understood. This study investigated the progressive effects of nitrate consumption on the unicellular red alga, P. purpureum, by integrating physiological, biochemical, and transcriptomic analyses through RNA-Seq, further validated by RT-qPCR. P. purpureum displayed a gradual, phase-dependent metabolic response to progressive nitrogen stress. EPS release coincided with the decline in nitrate uptake, linking nitrogen availability to carbon redirection towards polysaccharide secretion. Transcriptomic data revealed global metabolic downregulation with targeted upregulation of stress-responsive, carbohydrate catabolic, and nucleotide–sugar synthesis pathways, including the upregulation of CAZyme families GT4, GT8, and GT77. Our results give insights into the coordinated nitrogen and carbon metabolic regulation underlying polysaccharide biosynthesis, while opening future perspectives on enzyme compartmentalization and regulatory flux distribution under nitrogen stress in P. purpureum. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polysaccharides from Marine Environment)
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20 pages, 3202 KB  
Article
Discovery of a Marine Beauveria bassiana Polysaccharide with Antiviral Activity Against Tobacco Mosaic Virus
by Xu Qiu, Lihang Jiao, Jingjing Xue, Guangxin Xu and Xixiang Tang
Mar. Drugs 2026, 24(1), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/md24010039 - 13 Jan 2026
Viewed by 893
Abstract
Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) threatens crop yield and quality, while chemical antivirals offer limited efficacy and potential environmental hazards. Marine fungal polysaccharides are promising eco-friendly alternatives due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. Here, extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) from the deep-sea fungus Beauveria bassiana T2-2 [...] Read more.
Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) threatens crop yield and quality, while chemical antivirals offer limited efficacy and potential environmental hazards. Marine fungal polysaccharides are promising eco-friendly alternatives due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. Here, extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) from the deep-sea fungus Beauveria bassiana T2-2 was isolated, characterized, and produced under optimized conditions (28 °C, 200 rpm, 9 days, pH 8, inoculum 4%) using an L9 (34) orthogonal medium, yielding 3.42 g/L, which is a 48% increase over unoptimized culture. EPSs were glucose-rich, with a molecular weight of 3.56 × 104 Da, containing 90.05% total sugar, 0.28% protein, 1.15% uronic acid, and 1.18% sulfate. In a Nicotiana benthamiana–TMV model, EPSs alleviated viral symptoms, maintained chlorophyll content, enhanced antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD, CAT), reduced malondialdehyde, and upregulated defense genes in SA, ET, ROS, and phenylpropanoid pathways. EPSs, alone or combined with Ribavirin, activated multi-pathway antiviral immunity, highlighting its potential as a sustainable plant-protective agent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polysaccharides from Marine Environment)
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18 pages, 1371 KB  
Article
Impact of Individual Process Parameters on Extraction of Polysaccharides from Saccharina latissima
by Elmira Khajavi Ahmadi, Said Al-Hamimi, Madeleine Jönsson and Roya R. R. Sardari
Mar. Drugs 2025, 23(11), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/md23110435 - 13 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1284
Abstract
While numerous extraction methods have been applied to the brown algae Saccharina latissima, a systematic evaluation of how individual extraction parameters influence the extraction of each target polysaccharide has not previously been reported. Accordingly, this study compared conventional and advanced techniques for [...] Read more.
While numerous extraction methods have been applied to the brown algae Saccharina latissima, a systematic evaluation of how individual extraction parameters influence the extraction of each target polysaccharide has not previously been reported. Accordingly, this study compared conventional and advanced techniques for extracting fucoidan, laminarin, and alginate from pre-treated biomass. Conventional methods employed diluted acid (0.01 M and 0.1 M HCl), diluted alkali (0.01 M and 0.1 M NaOH), and hot water (121 °C for 30/60 min) for extraction. Advanced techniques involved pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) using water and moderate electric field (MEF) extraction with conditions optimized by statistical experimental design. Pre-treatment with aqueous ethanol removed 30% ash and eliminated mannitol, improving extraction selectivity. The results demonstrated fucoidan yields of 31% with 0.01 M HCl and 46% with 0.1 M NaOH, while 0.01 M NaOH facilitated laminarin co-extraction (45%). Alginate, as a mannuronic acid polymer, was obtained at 9% yield with 0.1 M HCl, 42% yield with 0.1 M NaOH, and 27% with pressurized hot water for 30 min. High-temperature, short-duration PLE further improved alginate yield, while MEF showed limited gains due to high ionic content but demonstrated potential under optimized settings. The results support a cascading biorefinery approach in which different polysaccharide fractions can be sequentially obtained, contributing to more sustainable seaweed valorization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polysaccharides from Marine Environment)
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