Large-scale bioprospecting of cyanobacteria, micro- and macroalgae from the Aegean Sea

Abstract

Marine organisms constitute approximately one-half of the total global biodiversity, being rich reservoirs of structurally diverse biofunctional components. The potential of cyanobacteria, micro- and macroalgae as sources of antimicrobial, antitumoral, anti-inflammatory, and anticoagulant compounds has been reported extensively. Nonetheless, biological activities of marine fauna and flora of the Aegean Sea have remained poorly studied when in comparison to other areas of the Mediterranean Sea. In this study, we screened the antimicrobial, antifouling, anti-inflammatory and anticancer potential of in total 98 specimens collected from the Aegean Sea. Ethanol extract of diatom Amphora cf capitellata showed the most promising antimicrobial results against Candida albicans while the extract of diatom Nitzschia communis showed effective results against Gram-positive bacterium, S. aureus. Extracts from the red alga Laurencia papillosa and from three Cystoseira species exhibited selective antiproliferative activity against cancer cell lines and an extract from the brown alga Dilophus fasciola showed the highest anti-inflammatory activity as measured in primary microglial and astrocyte cell cultures as well as by the reduction of proinflammatory cytokines. In summary, our study demonstrates that the Aegean Sea is a rich source of species that possess interesting potential for developing industrial applications.

Azorean macroalgae (Petalonia binghamiae, Halopteris scoparia and Osmundea pinnatifida) bioprospection: a study of fatty acid profiles and bioactivity

“…Montalvão et al . () worked with other species and reported that an ethanol extract from the brown alga Dilophus fasciola showed the highest anti‐inflammatory activity as measured in primary microglial and astrocyte cell cultures as well as by the reduction in proinflammatory cytokines. The methodologies used in these studies were different from that used in the current study, in which the activity of the COX‐2 enzyme was reduced by inhibition.…”

“…The number of studies on the anti-inflammatory activity of seaweed is low and the assay techniques vary, encompassing in vitro tests and in vivo models (Jin et al, 2006;Yang et al, 2010;Montalvão et al, 2018). This limited information raises difficulties in making comparisons across studies.…”

Marine Alkaloids with Anti-Inflammatory Activity: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives

“…The marine biome is currently one of the largest sources of biologically active compounds, offering a great possibility of bioprospecting for new pharmacological treatments [6]. Micro-and macroalgae are organisms with great potential for bioprospecting marine natural products and are rich sources of compounds with already characterized antimicrobial, antitumor, anticoagulant, and anti-inflammatory activity [111][112][113][114]. Among these compounds, alkaloid have great biological potential.…”

Algae as potential repository of anti cancerous natural compounds

“…Several extracts of Laurencia papillosa [30], Laurencia similis (Ceramiales) [31] shows anti proliferative activity in different cancers. Elatol, a compound ( Figure.…”