Antibiotics from Marine Organisms 2023

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Pharmacology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2023) | Viewed by 9084

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The worldwide emergence and relentless escalation of antibiotic drug resistance (i.e., methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) have demanded ongoing commitment over decades to discovering new antimicrobial weapons. Yet, even with the widespread acceptance of the need for new antibiotics in both the scientific community and the public at large, an urgent need for new approaches remains. Fortunately, microorganisms continue to produce their own wealth of structurally diverse and highly specialised metabolites, each with a remarkable range of biological activities that in themselves could present the next antibiotic breakthrough.

Reinvigorated by scientific and technical advances, there is a compelling case that marine microbes can once again play a prominent role in the development of new antibiotic classes. This Special Issue aims to investigate the marine microbial biodiversity to discover new natural-product-inspired therapeutics with applications for human diseases, in particular multi-drug-resistant pathogens.

Dr. Zeinab Khalil
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

  • antibiotic
  • antimicrobial
  • microorganisms
  • marine microbial biodiversity
  • natural products
  • human diseases
  • drug resistance

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 2669 KiB  
Article
The Genetic and Phenotypic Diversity of Bacillus spp. from the Mariculture System in China and Their Potential Function against Pathogenic Vibrio
by Yongxiang Yu, Yang Zhang, Yingeng Wang, Meijie Liao, Bin Li, Xiaojun Rong, Chunyuan Wang, Jianlong Ge, Jinjin Wang and Zheng Zhang
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(4), 228; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21040228 - 31 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1379
Abstract
Bacillus spp. could be one of the most suitable substitutes for the control and prevention of aquatic diseases. The occurrence of species population, antimicrobial character, and virulence diversity in Bacillus spp. recovered from the mariculture system in China between 2009 and 2021 were [...] Read more.
Bacillus spp. could be one of the most suitable substitutes for the control and prevention of aquatic diseases. The occurrence of species population, antimicrobial character, and virulence diversity in Bacillus spp. recovered from the mariculture system in China between 2009 and 2021 were investigated, screening for probiotic Bacillus strains with good biological safety that can inhibit Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. alginolyticus, V. harveyi, V. owensii, V. campbellii. The results showed that 116 Bacillus isolates were divided into 24 species, and the top three species were B. subtilis (37/116), B. velezensis (28/116), and B. amyloliquefaciens (10/116). Among the 116 Bacillus isolates, 32.8% were effective against V. parahaemolyticus, 30.1% for V. alginolyticus, 60.3% for V. harveyi, 69.8% for V. owensii and 74.1% for V. campbellii. More than 62% of Bacillus isolates were susceptible to florfenicol, doxycycline and tetracycline, etc., and 26/116 Bacillus isolates were found to be multiple-antibiotic-resistant (MAR), with MARI values ranging from 0 to 0.06. Eighteen kinds of antibiotic resistance genes were tested; only tetB, blaTEM, and blaZ were detected. And 9 isolates in 2 Bacillus species were excluded by 6/10 kinds of Bacillus-related toxin gene (hblA, hblC, nheB, nheC, entFM, cykK). Bio-safety testing indicated that three kinds of probiotics were good probiotic candidates to prevent Vibriosis. These results provide comprehensive genetic diversity, potential risks, and probiotic characteristics of Bacillus in the mariculture system in China, and provide basic support for green and healthy development of aquatic industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotics from Marine Organisms 2023)
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16 pages, 4423 KiB  
Article
Ribosomal DNA Sequence-Based Taxonomy and Antimicrobial Activity of Prorocentrum spp. (Dinophyceae) from Mauritius Coastal Waters, South-West Indian Ocean
by Prakash Mussai, Jacob Larsen, Abdulwahed Fahad Alrefaei and Rajesh Jeewon
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(4), 216; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21040216 - 28 Mar 2023
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Abstract
Microalgae are unicellular organisms and commonly present in the euphotic zone of marine ecosystems. From the western coast of Mauritius, three strains of Prorocentrum species were isolated from macrophytes and cultured under standard laboratory conditions. Morphologies were examined by light, fluorescence, and scanning [...] Read more.
Microalgae are unicellular organisms and commonly present in the euphotic zone of marine ecosystems. From the western coast of Mauritius, three strains of Prorocentrum species were isolated from macrophytes and cultured under standard laboratory conditions. Morphologies were examined by light, fluorescence, and scanning electron microscopy, and phylogenetic analyses were based on partial large subunit LSU rDNA (D1-D2) and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) regions. Three Prorocentrum species, including the P. fukuyoi complex, P. rhathymum, and P. lima complex, were identified. The antimicrobial activities were assayed against potential human pathogenic bacterial strains. The highest zone of inhibition was recorded for intracellular and extracellular protein extracts of Prorocentrum rhathymum against Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The polysaccharide extracts of the Prorocentrum fukuyoi complex had a higher zone of inhibition (24 ± 0.4 mm) against MRSA at a minimum concentration of 0.625 μg/mL. The extracts from the three Prorocentrum species had different levels of activity against the pathogens used, and this can be of scientific interest in the search for antibiotics from natural marine sources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotics from Marine Organisms 2023)
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17 pages, 6576 KiB  
Article
Crustin Defense against Vibrio parahaemolyticus Infection by Regulating Intestinal Microbial Balance in Litopenaeus vannamei
by Xinjia Lv, Shihao Li, Yang Yu, Xiaojun Zhang and Fuhua Li
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(2), 130; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21020130 - 17 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1698
Abstract
Crustins are a kind of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) that exist in crustaceans. Some crustins do not have direct antimicrobial activity but exhibit in vivo defense functions against Vibrio. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is not clear. Here, the regulatory mechanism was partially [...] Read more.
Crustins are a kind of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) that exist in crustaceans. Some crustins do not have direct antimicrobial activity but exhibit in vivo defense functions against Vibrio. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is not clear. Here, the regulatory mechanism was partially revealed along with the characterization of the immune function of a type I crustin, LvCrustin I-2, from Litopenaeus vannamei. LvCrustin I-2 was mainly detected in hemocytes, intestines and gills and was apparently up-regulated after Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection. Although the recombinant LvCrustin I-2 protein possessed neither antibacterial activity nor agglutinating activity, the knockdown of LvCrustin I-2 accelerated the in vivo proliferation of V. parahaemolyticus. Microbiome analysis showed that the balance of intestinal microbiota was impaired after LvCrustin I-2 knockdown. Further transcriptome analysis showed that the intestinal epithelial barrier and immune function were impaired in shrimp after LvCrustin I-2 knockdown. After removing the intestinal bacteria via antibiotic treatment, the phenomenon of impaired intestinal epithelial barrier and immune function disappeared in shrimp after LvCrustin I-2 knockdown. This indicated that the impairment of the shrimp intestine after LvCrustin I-2 knockdown was caused by the dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota. The present data suggest that crustins could resist pathogen infection through regulating the intestinal microbiota balance, which provides new insights into the functional mechanisms of antimicrobial peptides during pathogen infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotics from Marine Organisms 2023)
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Review

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35 pages, 1237 KiB  
Review
An Overview on Antimicrobial Potential of Edible Terrestrial Plants and Marine Macroalgae Rhodophyta and Chlorophyta Extracts
by Silvia Lomartire and Ana M. M. Gonçalves
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(3), 163; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21030163 - 28 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3654
Abstract
Antibiotics are used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. After a prolonged use of antibiotics, it may happen that bacteria adapt to their presence, developing antibiotic resistance and bringing up health complications. Nowadays, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global [...] Read more.
Antibiotics are used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. After a prolonged use of antibiotics, it may happen that bacteria adapt to their presence, developing antibiotic resistance and bringing up health complications. Nowadays, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health and food security; therefore, scientists have been searching for new classes of antibiotic compounds which naturally express antimicrobial activity. In recent decades, research has been focused on the extraction of plant compounds to treat microbial infections. Plants are potential sources of biological compounds that express several biological functions beneficial for our organism, including antimicrobial activity. The high variety of compounds of natural origin makes it possible to have a great bioavailability of antibacterial molecules to prevent different infections. The antimicrobial activity of marine plants, also called seaweeds or macroalgae, for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative, and several other strains infective for humans, has been proven. The present review presents research focused on the extraction of antimicrobial compounds from red and green macroalgae (domain Eukarya, kingdom Plantae). Nevertheless, further research is needed to verify the action of macroalgae compounds against bacteria in vitro and in vivo, to be involved in the production of safe and novel antibiotics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotics from Marine Organisms 2023)
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