Microalgae produce a variety of compounds that are beneficial to human and animal health. Among these compounds are carotenoids, which are microalgal pigments with unique antioxidant and coloring properties. The objective of this review is to evaluate the potential of using microalgae as a commercial feedstock for carotenoid production. While microalgae can produce some of the highest concentrations of carotenoids (especially astaxanthin) in living organisms, there are challenges associated with the mass production of microalgae and downstream processing of carotenoids. This review discusses the synthesis of carotenoids within microalgae, their physiological role, large-scale cultivation of microalgae, up- and down-stream processing, commercial applications, natural versus synthetic carotenoids, and opportunities and challenges facing the carotenoid markets. We emphasize legal aspects and regulatory challenges associated with the commercial production of microalgae-based carotenoids for food/feed, nutraceutical and cosmetic industry in Europe, the USA, the People’s Republic of China, and Japan. This review provides tools and a broad overview of the regulatory processes of carotenoid production from microalgae and other novel feedstocks.

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Coastal countries have traditionally relied on the existing marine resources (e.g., fishing, food, transport, recreation, and tourism) as well as tried to support new economic endeavors (ocean energy, desalination for water supply, and seabed mining). Modern societies and lifestyle resulted in an increased demand for dietary diversity, better health and well-being, new biomedicines, natural cosmeceuticals, environmental conservation, and sustainable energy sources. These societal needs stimulated the interest of researchers on the diverse and underexplored marine environments as promising and sustainable sources of biomolecules and biomass, and they are addressed by the emerging field of marine (blue) biotechnology. Blue biotechnology provides opportunities for a wide range of initiatives of commercial interest for the pharmaceutical, biomedical, cosmetic, nutraceutical, food, feed, agricultural, and related industries. This article synthesizes the essence, opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges encountered in marine biotechnology and outlines the attainment and valorization of directly derived or bio-inspired products from marine organisms. First, the concept of bioeconomy is introduced. Then, the diversity of marine bioresources including an overview of the most prominent marine organisms and their potential for biotechnological uses are described. This is followed by introducing methodologies for exploration of these resources and the main use case scenarios in energy, food and feed, agronomy, bioremediation and climate change, cosmeceuticals, bio-inspired materials, healthcare, and well-being sectors. The key aspects in the fields of legislation and funding are provided, with the emphasis on the importance of communication and stakeholder engagement at all levels of biotechnology development. Finally, vital overarching concepts, such as the quadruple helix and Responsible Research and Innovation principle are highlighted as important to follow within the marine biotechnology field. The authors of this review are collaborating under the European Commission-funded Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action Ocean4Biotech – European transdisciplinary networking platform for marine biotechnology and focus the study on the European state of affairs.

The balance between grazing and viral lysis of both photosynthetic and heterotrophic microbes determines the food resources that are available, and how much of each resource is present, for higher trophic levels. Mobile Bay is the fourth largest estuary in the USA, based on river discharge, and is home to a variety of nursery habitats for larvae and juveniles of economically important species which depend for their food on production of organisms of microbial size. To characterize the patterns of growth and removal rates of this fraction of organisms in Mobile Bay, we carried out modified dilution experiments in summer and winter at 3 stations along a salinity and nutrient gradient. Rates of growth, grazing and viral lysis for prokaryotes and dominant phytoplankton (cyanobacteria, diatoms and dinoflagellates) were determined for each experiment. Grazing and viral lysis of prokaryotes did not appear to be related to season or location, and both processes were detected within the bay as well as on the shelf. For phytoplankton, grazing was the dominant removal process inshore in the summer, while viral lysis of phytoplankton was detected in the fall and in winter. In winter, an apparent increase in dinoflagellates, and in the overall biomass of phytoplankton, was concurrent with increased viral lysis, suggesting that recycling by viruses may be an important source of nutrients in coastal waters.KEY WORDS: Grazing · Viral-mediated mortality · Phytoplankton · Prokaryotes · Estuarine · Microbial food web Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherAquat Microb Ecol 65: [143][144][145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156][157] 2011 Landry et al. 1995) for several years in a range of environments. In many instances, growth and grazing appear to be nearly balanced (Juhl & Murrell 2005, Palomares-García et al. 2006, Putland & Iverson 2007, Paterson et al. 2008, suggesting a strong top-down control of phytoplankton abundance. Viral lysis has been measured in fewer systems, but in many studies, lysis also appears to be a factor controlling the abundance of prokaryotes (Wilhelm et al. 2002, Boras et al. 2009, Karuza et al. 2010) and, in a few instances, phytoplankton (Baudoux et al. 2006(Baudoux et al. , 2008. There are fewer studies in which both grazing and viral lysis have been measured, but often grazing appears to be the dominant process in controlling host abundances (Guixa-Boixereu et al. 1999, Pedrós-Alió et al. 2000, Evans et al. 2003, Kimmance et al. 2007, Baudoux et al. 2008. It has been suggested that, as grazing is less specific and occurs at higher rates, grazing controls the abundance of prey while viral lysis -being a species-or strain-specific interaction -controls community diversity (Weinbauer 2004, Longnecker et al. 2010.When both grazing and viral lysis have been estimated, it is often observed that grazing increases both host productivity and viral lysis, with the grazers and viruses acting synergistically and producing results that are no...

Marine organisms produce a vast diversity of metabolites with biological activities useful for humans, e.g., cytotoxic, antioxidant, anti-microbial, insecticidal, herbicidal, anticancer, pro-osteogenic and pro-regenerative, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, cholesterol-lowering, nutritional, photoprotective, horticultural or other beneficial properties. These metabolites could help satisfy the increasing demand for alternative sources of nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, cosmeceuticals, food, feed, and novel bio-based products. In addition, marine biomass itself can serve as the source material for the production of various bulk commodities (e.g., biofuels, bioplastics, biomaterials). The sustainable exploitation of marine bio-resources and the development of biomolecules and polymers are also known as the growing field of marine biotechnology. Up to now, over 35,000 natural products have been characterized from marine organisms, but many more are yet to be uncovered, as the vast diversity of biota in the marine systems remains largely unexplored. Since marine biotechnology is still in its infancy, there is a need to create effective, operational, inclusive, sustainable, transnational and transdisciplinary networks with a serious and ambitious commitment for knowledge transfer, training provision, dissemination of best practices and identification of the emerging technological trends through science communication activities. A collaborative (net)work is today compelling to provide innovative solutions and products that can be commercialized to contribute to the circular bioeconomy. This perspective article highlights the importance of establishing such collaborative frameworks using the example of Ocean4Biotech, an Action within the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) that connects all and any stakeholders with an interest in marine biotechnology in Europe and beyond.

Biomass is defined as organic matter from living organisms represented in all kingdoms. It is recognized to be an excellent source of proteins, polysaccharides and lipids and, as such, embodies a tailored feedstock for new products and processes to apply in green industries. The industrial processes focused on the valorization of terrestrial biomass are well established, but marine sources still represent an untapped resource. Oceans and seas occupy over 70% of the Earth’s surface and are used intensively in worldwide economies through the fishery industry, as logistical routes, for mining ores and exploitation of fossil fuels, among others. All these activities produce waste. The other source of unused biomass derives from the beach wrack or washed-ashore organic material, especially in highly eutrophicated marine ecosystems. The development of high-added-value products from these side streams has been given priority in recent years due to the detection of a broad range of biopolymers, multiple nutrients and functional compounds that could find applications for human consumption or use in livestock/pet food, pharmaceutical and other industries. This review comprises a broad thematic approach in marine waste valorization, addressing the main achievements in marine biotechnology for advancing the circular economy, ranging from bioremediation applications for pollution treatment to energy and valorization for biomedical applications. It also includes a broad overview of the valorization of side streams in three selected case study areas: Norway, Scotland, and the Baltic Sea.