Marine Natural Products with Antifouling Activity, 3rd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Marine biofouling is one of the natural phenomena representing a challenge worldwide due to the costly effects on shipping and maritime-related industries and the related environmental threats. Intense research is aimed at new methods for preventing, controlling, or reducing fouling development in different submerged marine structures. The most prevalent solution to inhibit fouling is to make surfaces unsuitable for settlers, using coatings with repellent AF properties. Most of the AF agents in use in these coatings have undesirable effects on nontarget species, including commercially important ones. The search for new nontoxic antifouling technologies has become a necessity, particularly after the ban on organotin compounds such as tributyltin (TBT), one of the most efficient and widespread antifouling agents. Alternative organic and metal-based biocides are now used in antifouling paints, but their persistence and toxic effects in the aquatic environment have been reported. A nontoxic alternative for antifouling protection comes from the possibility of adopting natural antifouling compounds that may be found in sessile marine invertebrates like sponges, bryozoans, corals, and tunicates, as well as in marine microorganisms. Such metabolites prevent their producers from being fouled on by other organisms, or are simply products of their secondary metabolism and may act as bioactive compounds for several purposes. As natural marine compounds, they may inhibit settlements through a nontoxic mechanism without posing adverse effects on the marine environment. Such compounds can constitute new harmless ingredients for antifouling coatings. So far, a rather limited number of natural product antifoulants (NPAs) have been isolated from marine organisms, but a huge reservoir of compounds with potential antifouling activity is hidden in marine organisms. This Special Issue on Marine Natural Products with Antifouling Activity, 3^rd Edition aims to discover such natural compounds, the use of these compounds as an inspiration for the design of new ones, their activity against biofouling species settlement, the evaluation of environmental fate parameters, and their application in antifouling coatings as novel environmentally friendly agents. Studies which may contribute to the advancement of  knowledge in the antifouling scientific field are also welcome.

Dr. Joana Reis Almeida
Dr. Marta Correia-da-Silva
Guest Editors

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