Marine Biology ; Peptides

Aims: To investigate early marine biofilm-forming bacterial diversity on immersed antimicrobial-free commercial paint substratum in seawater. Methodology and results: Total ten bacterial strains were successfully isolated and identified by complete 16S rRNA sequencing. The isolates morphological, biochemical properties, biofilm-forming ability, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) productivity and components were characterised. The morphological and biochemical characterization of the strains showed strains-specific variation. All isolates were strong biofilm producers with four motile strains being both flat-bottom and air-liquid-interface biofilm producers, while other strains were only air-liquid interface biofilm producer. Based on 16S rRNA, three strains were identified as Marinomonas communis, two were Marinomonas sp., while the rest were Alteromonas litorea, Alteromonas sp., Salinimonas lutimaris, Idiomarine baltica and Bacillus niabensis. The amount of EPS that the isolates produced ranged from 1.95 to 2.89 g/L and productivity of EPS was inversely correlated with the cell biomass. Analysis of the extracted EPS using attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTiR) showed that all isolates EPS contained carbohydrates, nucleic acid, protein, DNA/RNA and lipid. Conclusion, significance and impact of study Bacterial diversity in early stages of biofilm on the commercial paint surface was dominated by Gram-negative bacteria from Gammaproteobacteria class. Isolates with superior cell growth showed lowest EPS production. This finding was expected to provide knowledge on distribution of different marine bacterial species in the biofilm on paint coated surfaces which may beneficial to formularize a new antibiofilm paint additive.
Biofilms ; Marine Biology

Aims: Marine bacteria have been reported to produce potential natural pigment with pharmaceutical properties and their growth can be manipulated in the laboratory to increase pigment production and their antimicrobial activity. Hence, this study aimed to enhance the prodigiosin production in Serratia marcescens IBRL USM84 by improving physical conditions. Methodology and results: The quantification of the pigment produced by S. marcescens IBRL USM84, bacterial cell growth, and its antibacterial activity in the broth medium were determined using a spectrophotometry method. Meanwhile, the antibacterial effect of red pigment on MRSA cells was observed under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). This marine isolate produced the highest yield of prodigiosin (6.95 μg/mL) when cultivated in marine broth with the addition of 0.2% of agar, 25 °C incubation temperature, initial medium pH of 7, 150 rpm of agitation speed for 48 h of cultivation time under light illumination. There was an increment of 151.81% in prodigiosin production after enhancement compared to before the enhancement of cultural conditions. SEM observations revealed that severe damage to the cell’s morphologies was exposed to red pigment as indicated by the formation of small dents, which led to completely collapse and eventually, cell death. Conclusion, significance and impact of study A positive correlation between pigment production and antibacterial activity was observed in the present study. The results supported the fact that marine bacteria are a reservoir of various pigments with antimicrobial properties. Also, the pigment production by S. marcescens and its antibacterial activity were significantly influenced by physical parameters.
Prodigiosin ; Serratia marcescens ; Marine Biology

Presented a survey of bioactive compounds discovered from marine sponges in the recent five years, including the classes, distribution and their potential pharmaceutical uses. In particular, the compounds with antitumor, antivirus and antibacteria activity were discussed with their originating marine sponge species. Whereas the "Supply Problems" were identified to hinder the clinical tests and commercial applications of most of the sponge bioactive compounds. In vitro cell culture of marine sponges is one of the most promising approaches to solve this problem. The state-of-the art of marine sponge cell culture and the challenging areas were discussed. A brief summary of the R&D status was also given on the bioactive compounds from marine sponges in Chinese oceans. It is crucial to invest more efforts on studying marine sponges and their bioactive compounds in our country in order to develop new marine drugs of independent intellectual property.
Animals ; Biological Factors ; isolation & purification ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Marine Biology ; Porifera ; chemistry ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo determine the relative molecular mass of marine collagen peptides (MCPs) and investigate the effects of MCPs on serum lipids, anti-oxidative enzymes and malondialdehyde (MDA) in hyperlipidemic rats.

METHODSSephadex G-25, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) methods were used to determine the relative molecular mass of MCPs. Then 50 healthy male SD rats were divided into 5 groups, which were normal control (NC) group, hyperlipidemic model control (HC) group and 1.0, 3.0, 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs groups, MCPs were orally administered by gavage to rats in MCPs group for 45 consecutive days (2 ml/100 kgbw per day), and the control rats were given vehicle only, all animals (except NC rats) were fed with a high fat diet composed of 79% basic diet, 10% lard, 10% yolk powder and 1% cholesterol. The levels of serum lipids, the content of MDA and activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in serum were measured.

RESULTSThe levels of serum total cholesterol (TC) in 1.0, 3.0, 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs groups were 1.89 +/- 0.29, 2.07 +/- 0.39 and 1.99 +/- 0.29 mmol/L respectively, each of which was significantly lower than that in HC group (3.37 +/- 0.24 mmol/L); low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in 1.0, 3.0, 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs groups were 0.83 +/- 0.16, 1.01 +/- 0.35 and 0.91 +/- 0.26 mmol/L respectively, each of which was significantly lower than that in HC group(2.20 +/- 0.34 mmol/L); triglyceride (TG) levels in 3.0 and 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs groups (0.90 +/- 0.15 and 0.86 +/- 0.12 mmol/L) were reduced significantly compared with that in HC group (1.18 +/- 0.18 mmol/L); MDA level in 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs group was 7.1 +/- 4.1 nmol/ml, which was significantly lower than that in HC group ( 15.9 +/- 9.9 nmol/ml); and atherogenic index (AI) in hyperlipidemic rats fed with 1.0, 3.0, 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs were 1.14 +/- 0.22, 1.16 +/- 0.27 and 0.99 +/- 0.31 respectively, each of which was significantly lower than that in HC group (2.27 +/- 0.55). The activities of SOD in 1.0, 3.0, 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs groups (218.6 +/- 33.2, 242.7 +/- 21.4 and 242.1 +/- 44.8 U/ml) were obviously increased compared with that in HC group (119.7 +/- 47.8 U/ml), and anti-atherogenic index (AAI) were also increased significantly (0.47 +/- 0.04, 0.47 +/- 0.06, 0.51 +/- 0.09 vs 0.31 +/- 0.05).

CONCLUSIONMCPs should have antioxidative and lipid-lowering effects, and might play a preventive role in hyperlipidemia and atherogenesis.

Animals ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Collagen ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Hypolipidemic Agents ; pharmacology ; Male ; Marine Biology ; Peptides ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of marine protein peptide (MPP) on immunomodulating in mice and its possible mechanism.

METHODSFemale ICR mice (6-8 weeks old) were administered the MPP for 4 weeks with the dose of 0.22 g/kgBW, 0.45 g/kgBW and 1.35 g/kgBW. Spleen and thymus were weighted and cell-mediated immune functions, humoral immune functions, phagocytic functions of mononuclear phagocyte, NK cell activity assays, the T cell subpopulation of the spleen tissue by the flow cytometer and the concentrations of cytokines in serum by cytometric bead array were examined.

RESULTSThe capacity of lymphocyte proliferation induced by Con A (0.33 +/- 0.21), DTH response (0.36 +/- 0.11) mm in MPP 0.22 g/kgBW group were significantly increased in comparison with these values in control group (0.15 +/- 0.10) and (0.21 +/- 0.10)mm, respectively, P < 0.05. IgM-PFC number of MPP 0.22 g/kgBW group (1.64 +/- 0.06), 0.45 g/kgBW group (1.59 +/- 0.05) and 1.35 g/kgBW group (1.56 +/- 0.10) were higher than those in control group (1.38 +/- 0.10), P < 0.01; and the level of serum HC50 of MPP 0.22 g/kgBW group (141.00 +/- 23.00) and 0.45 g/kgBW group (130.40 +/- 33.20) were greater than the control (100.30 +/- 19.40) , P < 0.01. The activity of NK cells in MPP 0.22 g/kgBW group (1.672 +/- 0.142) was significantly elevated in comparison with this value in control group (1.392 +/- 0.182), P < 0.05. The percentage of CD4 T helper (Th) cell in spleen of MPP 0.22 g/kgBW group (32.84 +/- 3.776)% and 0.45 g/kgBW group (32.42 +/- 3.507) % was higher than those in control group (25.06 +/- 0.354) %, P < 0.05. The concentrations of IL-2 in serum of MPP 0.22 g/kgBW group 181.06 pg/ml, 0.45 g/kgBW group 94.84 pg/ml and 1.35 g/kgBW group 102.61 pg/ml were higher than those in control group 0.50 pg/ml, P < 0.05; and the level of IL-5 of MPP 0.22 g/kgBW group (38.31) pg/ml was greater than the control 0.50 pg/ml, P < 0.05. Nevertheless, no obvious effects on weight increasing, the ratio of immune organ and body weight and phagocytosis capacity were observed in our study.

CONCLUSIONMPP could improve the immune functions in mice, and might be by the mechanism of enhancing the function of Th cells stimulating the secretion of Th1 and Th2 type cell cytokines.

Animals ; CD4-CD8 Ratio ; Female ; Killer Cells, Natural ; metabolism ; Macrophages ; immunology ; Marine Biology ; Mice ; Organ Size ; Peptides ; pharmacology ; Phagocytosis ; Spleen ; immunology ; Th1 Cells ; Th2 Cells

OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effect of marine collagen peptides (MCPs) on the skin of aged mice induced by D-galactose.

METHODSSubchronic toxicity study was conducted while D-galactose induced subacute aging model was established. D-galactose dose of 0.125 g/kg body weight was intraperitoneally injected daily for 90 days. Marine collagen peptide 0.225, 0.450, 1.350 g/kg body weight were administered by oral gavage. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in blood serum were measured, along with cutaneous histopathology examination.

RESULTSEpidermal thickness was significantly higher in MCPs treated group. Number and activity of fibroblast in MCPs treated dermis was increased prominently. The activity of SOD in 0.225, 0.450, 1.350 g/kgbw MCPs treated groups were 455.52 +/- 11.39, 460.15 +/- 18.09, 468.59 +/- 27.25 U/ml respectively, each of which was significantly higher than that in model control group; the activity of serum CAT in 0.225, 1.350 g/kgbw MCPs treated groups (21.33 +/- 4.82, 21.69 +/- 1.68 U/ml) were obviously increased compared with that in model control group (17.14 +/- 2.81 U/ml); MDA level in 0.450, 1.350 g/kgbw MCPs treated groups were 5.67 +/- 0.93, 5.76 +/- 1.02 nmol/ml respectively, each of which was significantly lower than that in model control group (7.63 +/- 1.37 nmol/ml).

CONCLUSIONSThe results showed that MCPs might play a protective role on skin aging by improving the activity of antioxidant.

Animals ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Collagen ; pharmacology ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; blood ; Marine Biology ; Mice ; Peptides ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Skin Aging ; drug effects ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood

Marine can be considered as a rather unexplored source of biological material. Production of algal oligosaccharides by using valuable enzymes from marine origin has become an important way to utilize marine resources. As one of algal tool enzymes, the use of alginate lyases has been focused mainly on development and application of alginate oligosaccharides with bioactive function in recent years. In this paper, we reviewed the research of alginate lyases over the past decade in several aspects, including their origin, diversity, substrate specification, mode of action, structure and catalysis mechanism, assay of enzyme activity, enzyme characterization, as well as our own experience on this subject. At the end of the review, the application prospects of alginate lyases are presented.
Alginates ; metabolism ; Glucuronic Acid ; metabolism ; Hexuronic Acids ; metabolism ; Marine Biology ; methods ; Oligosaccharides ; metabolism ; Phaeophyta ; enzymology ; Polysaccharide-Lyases ; classification ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Substrate Specificity

Ocean is a unique and excellent resource that provides a diverse array of intriguing natural products. Marine natural products have demonstrated significant and extremely potent biological activities and have captured the attention of natural products chemists in the past few decades. It is increasingly recognized that a wealth of fascinating natural products and novel chemical entities will play a dominant role in the discovery of useful leads for the development of pharmaceutical agents and provide useful probes to lead to breakthroughs in a variety of life-science fields. This article focused on the research progress of chemistry of marine natural products in recent five years.
Alkaloids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Anti-Infective Agents ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Aquatic Organisms ; chemistry ; Biological Products ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Macrolides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Marine Biology ; Marine Toxins ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Molecular Structure ; Peptides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Steroids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Terpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology

In the last decade, along with the development of taxonomy research in marine-derived actinobacteria, more and more halogenated natural products were discovered from marine actinobacteria. Most of them showed good biological activity and unique structure compared to those from land. The special halogenation mechanism in some compounds' biosynthesis has drawn great attention. So in this review, we focus on the halogenated natural products from marine actinobacteria and their halogenation mechanisms.
Actinobacteria ; chemistry ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Biological Products ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Halogenation ; Humans ; Marine Biology ; Molecular Structure