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Diversity
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Biodiversity of Marine Microbes II
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Biodiversity of Marine Microbes II

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 10123

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Savvas Genitsaris

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Guest Editor
Department of Ecology and Taxonomy, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, GR-15784 Athens, Greece
Interests: microbial ecology; molecular diversity of microbes; metagenomics; bioinformatics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Maria Moustaka-Gouni

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
School of Biology, Department of Botany, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: biological oceanography; microbial ecology; pelagic food-webs; climate change effects on plankton biodiversity, phytoplankton, eutrophication; harmful algal blooms, red tides, water quality (lakes, brackish waterbodies, coastal sea)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Marine microbial life is comprised of a variety of different evolutionary groups from all three domains of life, Eukaryotes, Bacteria, and Archaea. It is responsible for about half of the primary production on earth, plays irreplaceable roles in biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem functioning, and actively participates in complex processes and interactions. Marine microbes are the basis of marine trophic webs (autotrophs), and also an important link between different trophic levels (decomposers, parasites, and endosymbionts). They are used as biological indicators of water quality, eutrophication, and degraded marine environments, and are targeted in conservation and restoration plans. Our understanding of their responses to climate change is considered a key research field to comprehend the complex ongoing processes that will shape the planet’s future. They consist of a vast diversity of organisms, with diverse morphological features, sizes, physiology, functions, trophic characteristics, distribution, ecology, evolutionary traits, genetic content, and responses to abiotic variability. Even though we understand their significance in numerous aspects that affect all life on earth, we still have a long way to go in order to answer fundamental questions driving recent research: How many marine microbes are there? Where can we find them? What do they do? What is their role and responses in the light of climate change? What are their phylogenetic relationships? How do they respond to environmental pressures? And many more. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing accompanied with the technological innovations of classical tools, such as microscopy, have given researchers the equipment and the incentive to attempt to tackle the above questions and shed light on the complex and diverse life of marine microbes. This Special Issue provides a platform to highlight new research and significant advances related to the biodiversity of marine microbes.

Dr. Savvas Genitsaris
Prof. Dr. Maria Moustaka-Gouni
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. Diversity 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 2600 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

  • Algae
  • Protists
  • Prokaryotes
  • Taxonomic diversity
  • Functional diversity
  • Genetic diversity
  • Climate change
  • Indicators ecology High-throughput sequencing Microscopy

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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8 pages, 1505 KiB  
Article
Euchlorocystis marina sp. nov. (Oocystaceae, Trebouxiophyceae), a New Species of Green Algae from a Seawater Shrimp Culture Pond
by Feng Li, Mingbiao Dong, Ning Zhang, Yulei Zhang, Qianru Li, Zuyuan Qian, Qingsheng Lian, Jiansen Luo, Xianghu Huang and Changling Li
Diversity 2022, 14(2), 119; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/d14020119 - 08 Feb 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2216
Abstract
Oocystaceae is a cosmopolitan family of green algae with distinct morphology and ultrastructure. Most of the reported species in this family are freshwater species, and there are few marine species reported. In this study, we describe a new marine species of Oocystaceae, Euchlorocystis [...] Read more.
Oocystaceae is a cosmopolitan family of green algae with distinct morphology and ultrastructure. Most of the reported species in this family are freshwater species, and there are few marine species reported. In this study, we describe a new marine species of Oocystaceae, Euchlorocystis marina sp. nov. based on material collected from a seawater shrimp culture pond in Zhanjiang, China. An integrative approach, including phylogenetic analyses of 18S rDNA, light microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, was used for the taxonomic study of the strains. Morphological observation results showed that it has a multilayer thick cell wall, multiple pyrenoids in the chloroplast, and usually 2–16 cells forming a colony in the extended mother cell wall. These features are morphologically similar to the genus Euchlorocystis and are distinguished from other taxa of the family Oocystaceae. The 18S rDNA phylogenetic trees revealed that the strains and Euchlorocystis subsalina formed an independent clade in Oocystaceae with robust support. However, horseshoe-shaped chloroplasts and rounder cells morphologically distinguished it from Euchlorocystis subsalina. Apart from the morphology, the direct comparison of sequences also supported that they were distinct species. The discovery and description of the new species enriches the marine species record of the family Oocystaceae. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity of Marine Microbes II)
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13 pages, 2303 KiB  
Article
The Implication Inferred from the Expression of Small Heat-Shock Protein Genes in Dinoflagellate Resting Cysts Buried in Marine Sediment
by Yunyan Deng, Fengting Li, Zhangxi Hu, Caixia Yue and Ying Zhong Tang
Diversity 2021, 13(10), 471; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/d13100471 - 27 Sep 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1598
Abstract
Dinoflagellates are unicellular eukaryotic microalgae, occupying pivotal niches in aquatic ecosystems with great ecological, biological, and economic significance. Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) are the most omnipresent, but the least conserved, family of molecular chaperones found in all domains of life. Although their [...] Read more.
Dinoflagellates are unicellular eukaryotic microalgae, occupying pivotal niches in aquatic ecosystems with great ecological, biological, and economic significance. Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) are the most omnipresent, but the least conserved, family of molecular chaperones found in all domains of life. Although their common name (small Hsp) implies to exclusively stress their heat shock-responsive function, many sHsps in fact engage in a variety of physiological processes, from cell growth and proliferation to embryogenesis, development, differentiation, apoptosis, and even to human disease prevention. Recent years have greatly expanded our understanding of sHsps in higher plants; however, comprehensive study aiming to delineate the composition and expression pattern of dinoflagellate sHsp gene family has not yet been performed. In this study, we constructed dinoflagellate-specific environmental cDNA library from marine sediment and sequenced using the third-generation sequencing technique. Screening of sHsp genes from the library returned 13 entries with complete coding regions, which were considered to be transcriptionally activated in the natural community of dinoflagellate resting cysts. All the 13 dinoflagellate sHsps consisted of a solely characteristic α-crystallin domain, covering 88–123 amino acid residues with the typical A-X-X-X-N-G-V-L motif, flanked by variable N- and C-terminal extensions. Multiple alignment revealed considerable amino acid divergence (~26.7% average similarity) among them. An unexpected close relationship was revealed between dinoflagellate and green algal sHsps in the phylogenetic tree, seemingly reflecting a close evolutionary relationship of these sHsps themselves. We confirmed that sHsp mRNAs are expressed during dormancy of the resting cyst assemblages of dinoflagellates that were buried in marine sediment, which raised the possibility that the sHsp expression is part of the machinery of maintaining the dormancy or/and the adaptation to ambient conditions of dinoflagellate resting cysts. Our results, although preliminary, gained an important glance on the universal presence of sHsps in dinoflagellates and their active expressions in the assemblage of resting cysts that were buried in the marine sediment. The essentiality of sHsps functioning in resting cysts necessitate more intensive and extensive investigations on all possible functions of Hsps in dinoflagellates, a group of protists with vital ecological and biological importance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity of Marine Microbes II)
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Review

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22 pages, 1782 KiB  
Review
Review of Harmful Algal Blooms in the Coastal Mediterranean Sea, with a Focus on Greek Waters
by Christina Tsikoti and Savvas Genitsaris
Diversity 2021, 13(8), 396; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/d13080396 - 22 Aug 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5369
Abstract
Anthropogenic marine eutrophication has been recognized as one of the major threats to aquatic ecosystem health. In recent years, eutrophication phenomena, prompted by global warming and population increase, have stimulated the proliferation of potentially harmful algal taxa resulting in the prevalence of frequent [...] Read more.
Anthropogenic marine eutrophication has been recognized as one of the major threats to aquatic ecosystem health. In recent years, eutrophication phenomena, prompted by global warming and population increase, have stimulated the proliferation of potentially harmful algal taxa resulting in the prevalence of frequent and intense harmful algal blooms (HABs) in coastal areas. Numerous coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea (MS) are under environmental pressures arising from human activities that are driving ecosystem degradation and resulting in the increase of the supply of nutrient inputs. In this review, we aim to present the recent situation regarding the appearance of HABs in Mediterranean coastal areas linked to anthropogenic eutrophication, to highlight the features and particularities of the MS, and to summarize the harmful phytoplankton outbreaks along the length of coastal areas of many localities. Furthermore, we focus on HABs documented in Greek coastal areas according to the causative algal species, the period of occurrence, and the induced damage in human and ecosystem health. The occurrence of eutrophication-induced HAB incidents during the past two decades is emphasized. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity of Marine Microbes II)
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