Marine Distinctive Environments, such as deep sea, polar sea, hydrothermal vent, mesophotic zone, and mangrove, are unique habitats of microorganisms with special environmental settings in temperature, pressure, light and salinity. Innumerous and distinctive microbial biodiversity in these environments awaits exploration. In recent decades, significant advances in manned submersibles, underwater robots, and deep scientific diving have enabled extensive observation and sample collection in these environments. They are essential resources for bioprospecting, including drug discovery, novel enzymes, and other products development. The advent of new microbial cultivation and metagenomics and bioinformatics tools also provides unprecedented opportunities to study microbes from these unique habitats.
In this Research Topic, we would like to discuss how the microbes evolved to adapt to these unique environments and symbiotic hosts and understand their biodiversity. Then, how can we apply or develop new cultivation methods to grow them in labs? Alternatively, with culture-independent approaches, we may realise, at least partially, their functions and interactions in nature. We also expect to discover new natural products with intriguing activities like antimicrobial, anticancer and neuroprotective, and enzymes with potential application biotechnology for bioprospecting.
This Research Topic aims to collect all article types (Original Research Articles, Reviews and Perspectives focusing on recent achievements in this field) related to microbes from distinctive marine environments. Specific topics may include but are not limited to microbial diversity, ecology, evolution, resource mining, natural product discovery and biosynthesis. Research employing environmental omics approaches, including the report of nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) sequences, must be accompanied by contextual environmental data or experiments that address aspects of the biology of the studied microorganisms. Descriptive work managing biodiversity will not be considered for publication.
Marine Distinctive Environments, such as deep sea, polar sea, hydrothermal vent, mesophotic zone, and mangrove, are unique habitats of microorganisms with special environmental settings in temperature, pressure, light and salinity. Innumerous and distinctive microbial biodiversity in these environments awaits exploration. In recent decades, significant advances in manned submersibles, underwater robots, and deep scientific diving have enabled extensive observation and sample collection in these environments. They are essential resources for bioprospecting, including drug discovery, novel enzymes, and other products development. The advent of new microbial cultivation and metagenomics and bioinformatics tools also provides unprecedented opportunities to study microbes from these unique habitats.
In this Research Topic, we would like to discuss how the microbes evolved to adapt to these unique environments and symbiotic hosts and understand their biodiversity. Then, how can we apply or develop new cultivation methods to grow them in labs? Alternatively, with culture-independent approaches, we may realise, at least partially, their functions and interactions in nature. We also expect to discover new natural products with intriguing activities like antimicrobial, anticancer and neuroprotective, and enzymes with potential application biotechnology for bioprospecting.
This Research Topic aims to collect all article types (Original Research Articles, Reviews and Perspectives focusing on recent achievements in this field) related to microbes from distinctive marine environments. Specific topics may include but are not limited to microbial diversity, ecology, evolution, resource mining, natural product discovery and biosynthesis. Research employing environmental omics approaches, including the report of nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) sequences, must be accompanied by contextual environmental data or experiments that address aspects of the biology of the studied microorganisms. Descriptive work managing biodiversity will not be considered for publication.
