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Jellyfish and Polyps: Cnidarians as Sustainable Resources for Biotechnological Applications...
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Jellyfish and Polyps: Cnidarians as Sustainable Resources for Biotechnological Applications and Bioprospecting - II

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 18933

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Antonella Leone

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Guest Editor
National Research Council, Institute of Sciences of Food Production, Via Prov. le Lecce-Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: jellyfish; microalgae; blue-biotechnology; bioactive compounds; antioxidants; anticancer; nutraceuticals; marine plants; novel foods; drug discovery; gap junction intercellular communications (GJIC)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Gian Luigi Mariottini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences, University of Genova, Italy
Interests: natural bioactive compounds; toxicology; cytotoxicology; Cnidaria; drug discovery; ecotoxicology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Stefano Piraino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologicheed Ambientali, Università del Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: marine invertebrate zoology and developmental biology; cnidarian zoology and evolutionary developmental biology; integrative taxonomy; systematics; ecology; trophic ecology; genetic connectivity; marine bioinvasions; metagenomics; reverse development; cell transdifferentiation; organogenesis; bioactive compounds; biotechnological applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change and other concurrent anthropogenic causes are influencing the frequency and abundance of jellyfish blooms, with large impacts on the structure and functioning of marine plankton ecosystems as well as on human activities in coastal zones. In parallel, sea anemones, corals, and less familiar forms of benthic polypoid cnidarians constitute a major group of suspension feeders governing energy transfer from the water column to seafloor organisms.

Their outstanding ecological importance in worldwide marine ecosystems calls for increased global monitoring of cnidarian ecology and life cycles. At the same time, many cnidarians are now regarded as potential sustainable resources, calling for new investigations into their chemical and biochemical compositions, the physical–chemical features and supramolecular organization of their protein components, the screening and identification of their bioactive molecules, their associated microbiomes, and their possible biotechnological exploitation in different fields.

The apparent vulnerability of their soft bodies, their limited swimming ability, and their wide biodiversity with about 13,400 living described species make cnidarians top candidates for the development of biochemical strategies for survival (feeding, defense) and reproduction, including symbiosis or other relationships with microbes and other organisms. Venomous compounds occurring in extracts of cnidarians are viewed with particular interest for both of the aims, as well as the mitigation of their adverse effects and their possible beneficial use for humans. Furthermore, in the pharmacopeia of traditional medicine of Eastern countries, jellyfish are regarded as a treatment for disorders and diseases and represent a valuable foodstuff with health benefits, suggesting the occurrence of bioactive compounds. Despite the increasing attention on jellyfish blooms, scientific knowledge supporting their possible utilization and exploitation is still limited.

This Special Issue will collect novel research papers and original reviews focusing on bioprospecting marine cnidarians and on the exploitation of their biomasses and derived compounds for biotechnological and biomedical applications, as well as active ingredients for pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic, and cosmeceutical uses.

Dr. Antonella Leone
Dr. Gian Luigi Mariottini
Prof. Stefano Piraino
Guest Editors

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.

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

  • jellyfish proteins
  • bioactive compounds
  • biopeptides
  • biodiversity
  • anti-cancer
  • photoprotection
  • jellyfish collagen
  • marine biomaterials
  • jellyfish symbionts
  • cosmetics and cosmeceutics
  • nutraceuticals
  • novel foods
  • jellyfish-associated microbiome
  • sustainable farming
  • sustainable fishery

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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26 pages, 672 KiB  
Review
Biotechnological Applications of Scyphomedusae
by Louise Merquiol, Giovanna Romano, Adrianna Ianora and Isabella D’Ambra
Mar. Drugs 2019, 17(11), 604; https://doi.org/10.3390/md17110604 - 24 Oct 2019
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 4999
Abstract
As people across the world live longer, chronic illness and diminished well-being are becoming major global public health challenges. Marine biotechnology may help overcome some of these challenges by developing new products and know-how derived from marine organisms. While some products from marine [...] Read more.
As people across the world live longer, chronic illness and diminished well-being are becoming major global public health challenges. Marine biotechnology may help overcome some of these challenges by developing new products and know-how derived from marine organisms. While some products from marine organisms such as microalgae, sponges, and fish have already found biotechnological applications, jellyfish have received little attention as a potential source of bioactive compounds. Nevertheless, recent studies have highlighted that scyphomedusae (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) synthesise at least three main categories of compounds that may find biotechnological applications: collagen, fatty acids and components of crude venom. We review what is known about these compounds in scyphomedusae and their current biotechnological applications, which falls mainly into four categories of products: nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, biomedicals, and biomaterials. By defining the state of the art of biotechnological applications in scyphomedusae, we intend to promote the use of these bioactive compounds to increase the health and well-being of future societies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jellyfish and Polyps: Cnidarians as Sustainable Resources for Biotechnological Applications and Bioprospecting - II)
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25 pages, 1883 KiB  
Article
The Microbial Community Associated with Rhizostoma pulmo: Ecological Significance and Potential Consequences for Marine Organisms and Human Health
by Loredana Stabili, Lucia Rizzo, Lorena Basso, Marinella Marzano, Bruno Fosso, Graziano Pesole and Stefano Piraino
Mar. Drugs 2020, 18(9), 437; https://doi.org/10.3390/md18090437 - 21 Aug 2020
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4649
Abstract
Jellyfish blooms are frequent and widespread in coastal areas worldwide, often associated with significant ecological and socio-economic consequences. Recent studies have also suggested cnidarian jellyfish may act as vectors of bacterial pathogens. The scyphomedusa Rhizostoma pulmo is an outbreak-forming jellyfish widely occurring across [...] Read more.
Jellyfish blooms are frequent and widespread in coastal areas worldwide, often associated with significant ecological and socio-economic consequences. Recent studies have also suggested cnidarian jellyfish may act as vectors of bacterial pathogens. The scyphomedusa Rhizostoma pulmo is an outbreak-forming jellyfish widely occurring across the Mediterranean basin. Using combination of culture-based approaches and a high-throughput amplicon sequencing (HTS), and based on available knowledge on a warm-affinity jellyfish-associated microbiome, we compared the microbial community associated with R. pulmo adult jellyfish in the Gulf of Taranto (Ionian Sea) between summer (July 2016) and winter (February 2017) sampling periods. The jellyfish-associated microbiota was investigated in three distinct compartments, namely umbrella, oral arms, and the mucus secretion. Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chlamydiae, Cyanobacteria, Deinococcus-Thermus, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Planctomycetes, Proteobacteria, Rhodothermaeota, Spirochaetes, Tenericutes, and Thaumarchaeota were the phyla isolated from all the three R. pulmo compartments in the sampling times. In particular, the main genera Mycoplasma and Spiroplasma, belonging to the class Mollicutes (phylum Tenericutes), have been identified in all the three jellyfish compartments. The taxonomic microbial data were coupled with metabolic profiles resulting from the utilization of 31 different carbon sources by the BIOLOG Eco-Plate system. Microorganisms associated with mucus are characterized by great diversity. The counts of culturable heterotrophic bacteria and potential metabolic activities are also remarkable. Results are discussed in terms of R. pulmo ecology, the potential health hazard for marine and human life as well as the potential biotechnological applications related to the associated microbiome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jellyfish and Polyps: Cnidarians as Sustainable Resources for Biotechnological Applications and Bioprospecting - II)
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25 pages, 3581 KiB  
Article
Biochemical Characterization of Cassiopea andromeda (Forsskål, 1775), Another Red Sea Jellyfish in the Western Mediterranean Sea
by Gianluca De Rinaldis, Antonella Leone, Stefania De Domenico, Mar Bosch-Belmar, Rasa Slizyte, Giacomo Milisenda, Annalisa Santucci, Clara Albano and Stefano Piraino
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(9), 498; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19090498 - 31 Aug 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4231
Abstract
Increasing frequency of native jellyfish proliferations and massive appearance of non-indigenous jellyfish species recently concur to impact Mediterranean coastal ecosystems and human activities at sea. Nonetheless, jellyfish biomass may represent an exploitable novel resource to coastal communities, with reference to its potential use [...] Read more.
Increasing frequency of native jellyfish proliferations and massive appearance of non-indigenous jellyfish species recently concur to impact Mediterranean coastal ecosystems and human activities at sea. Nonetheless, jellyfish biomass may represent an exploitable novel resource to coastal communities, with reference to its potential use in the pharmaceutical, nutritional, and nutraceutical Blue Growth sectors. The zooxanthellate jellyfish Cassiopea andromeda, Forsskål, 1775 (Cnidaria, Rhizostomeae) entered the Levant Sea through the Suez Canal and spread towards the Western Mediterranean to reach Malta, Tunisia, and recently also the Italian coasts. Here we report on the biochemical characterization and antioxidant activity of C. andromeda specimens with a discussion on their relative biological activities. The biochemical characterization of the aqueous (PBS) and hydroalcoholic (80% ethanol) soluble components of C. andromeda were performed for whole jellyfish, as well as separately for umbrella and oral arms. The insoluble components were hydrolyzed by sequential enzymatic digestion with pepsin and collagenase. The composition and antioxidant activity of the insoluble and enzymatically digestible fractions were not affected by the pre-extraction types, resulting into collagen- and non-collagen-derived peptides with antioxidant activity. Both soluble compounds and hydrolyzed fractions were characterized for the content of proteins, phenolic compounds, and lipids. The presence of compounds coming from the endosymbiont zooxanthellae was also detected. The notable yield and the considerable antioxidant activity detected make this species worthy of further study for its potential biotechnological sustainable exploitation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jellyfish and Polyps: Cnidarians as Sustainable Resources for Biotechnological Applications and Bioprospecting - II)
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18 pages, 3008 KiB  
Article
Jellyfish Bioprospecting in the Mediterranean Sea: Antioxidant and Lysozyme-Like Activities from Aurelia coerulea (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) Extracts
by Loredana Stabili, Lucia Rizzo, Rosa Caprioli, Antonella Leone and Stefano Piraino
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(11), 619; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19110619 - 31 Oct 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4127
Abstract
Marine invertebrates represent a vast, untapped source of bioactive compounds. Cnidarians are represented by nearly 10,000 species that contain a complex mixture of venoms, collagen, and other bioactive compounds, including enzymes, oligosaccharides, fatty acids, and lipophilic molecules. Due to their high abundance in [...] Read more.
Marine invertebrates represent a vast, untapped source of bioactive compounds. Cnidarians are represented by nearly 10,000 species that contain a complex mixture of venoms, collagen, and other bioactive compounds, including enzymes, oligosaccharides, fatty acids, and lipophilic molecules. Due to their high abundance in coastal waters, several jellyfish taxa may be regarded as candidate targets for the discovery of novel lead molecules and biomaterials and as a potential source of food/feed ingredients. The moon jellyfish Aurelia coerulea is one of the most common jellyfish worldwide and is particularly abundant in sheltered coastal lagoons and marinas of the Mediterranean Sea, where it first appeared—as an alien species—in the last century, when Pacific oyster cultivation began. In the present study, the antioxidant and lysozyme antibacterial activities associated with extracts from different medusa compartments—namely the umbrella, oral arms, and secreted mucus—were investigated. Extracts from the oral arms of A. coerulea displayed significant antioxidant activity. Similarly, lysozyme-like activity was the highest in extracts from oral arms. These findings suggest that A. coerulea outbreaks may be used in the search for novel cytolytic and cytotoxic products against marine bacteria. The geographically wide occurrence and the seasonally high abundance of A. coerulea populations in coastal waters envisage and stimulate the search for biotechnological applications of jellyfish biomasses in the pharmaceutical, nutritional, and nutraceutical sectors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jellyfish and Polyps: Cnidarians as Sustainable Resources for Biotechnological Applications and Bioprospecting - II)
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