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Omics Approaches in Marine Compound Discovery

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 2064

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
Interests: omics technologies; marine natural discovery; bioactive compound; biosynthetic gene clusters; biosynthetic pathway; marine organisms; genomics; transcriptomics; proteomics; metabolomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Omics technologies have revolutionized marine drug discovery by significantly deepening our understanding of the complex biochemical networks and molecular mechanisms in marine organisms. Approaches such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics enable the comprehensive analysis of marine organisms' genetic and metabolic landscapes, providing new insights into the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds and their potential therapeutic applications.

This Special Issue will focus on how omics techniques are transforming marine drug discovery by uncovering the complex molecular processes that drive the production of bioactive natural products in marine organisms. The goal is to explore how high-throughput sequencing, gene expression profiling, and metabolic profiling can be utilized to identify novel bioactive molecules, unravel biosynthetic pathways, and discover new drug candidates.

We invite contributions from both academic and industrial researchers to submit original research and review articles that explore the application of omics technologies in marine drug discovery, with a particular focus on integrating these approaches into the development of new drug candidates and therapeutic strategies.

Prof. Dr. Yiguang Zhu
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

  • marine natural products
  • omics technology
  • high-throughput screening
  • anti-inflammation
  • biological products
  • pharmacology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 9751 KB  
Article
Metabolomic Insights into the Phytochemical Profiles and Seasonal Shifts of Fucus serratus and F. vesiculosus Harvested in Danish Coastal Waters (Aarhus Bay)—An Untargeted High-Resolution Mass-Spectrometry Approach
by Mihai Victor Curtasu, Jørgen Ulrik Graudal Levinsen, Annette Bruhn, Mette Olaf Nielsen and Natalja P. Nørskov
Mar. Drugs 2025, 23(11), 417; https://doi.org/10.3390/md23110417 - 26 Oct 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1636
Abstract
This study investigated the year-round metabolomic variation in Fucus serratus (FS) and F. vesiculosus (FV) collected monthly from Danish coastal water around Aarhus Bay. Untargeted high-resolution liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry profiling (LC-HRMS), combined with multivariate data analysis and temporal clustering analysis, revealed that species [...] Read more.
This study investigated the year-round metabolomic variation in Fucus serratus (FS) and F. vesiculosus (FV) collected monthly from Danish coastal water around Aarhus Bay. Untargeted high-resolution liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry profiling (LC-HRMS), combined with multivariate data analysis and temporal clustering analysis, revealed that species identity was the primary driver of metabolic separation, followed by seasonal variation. FS showed higher levels of hydrolyzable tannins, flavonoid derivatives, aromatic amino acids, and glutamine-rich peptides, whereas FV was enriched in complex phlorotannins, tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, and carnitine derivatives. Temporal analysis identified recurring seasonal patterns across both species, including spring increases in amino acids, purine metabolites, and osmolytes; mid-summer peaks in mannitol and sulfated derivatives; and late-autumn elevations in phenolic compounds and betaine-type osmolytes. Despite apparent interspecific differences, several metabolite groups exhibited similar seasonal dynamics, suggesting shared physiological strategies associated with growth activation in spring, metabolic adjustment during summer to possible increased grazing pressure, and nutrient reallocation prior to winter. These findings provide a comprehensive, high-resolution view of seasonal metabolomic patterns in Fucus spp., offering new insights into their biochemical ecology and supporting the targeted utilization of these species for applications requiring specific metabolite profiles. Finally, this study contributes to the creation or expansion of metabolomic libraries for HRMS specific to Fucus seaweeds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Omics Approaches in Marine Compound Discovery)
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