Novel Insights and Genomic Characterization of Coral-Associated Microorganisms from Maldives Displaying Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and UV-Protectant Activities
Coral reef survival is crucial for the socio-ecological interest of many countries, particularly for the Republic of Maldives, whose reef integrity influences the country’s livelihoods and economy. These ecosystems are being severely impacted by multiple stressors, leading to declines in biodiversit...
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2025-04-01
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| author | Fortunato Palma Esposito Andrea López-Mobilia Michael Tangherlini Vincenza Casella Alessandro Coppola Giulia Varola Laura Vitale Gerardo Della Sala Pietro Tedesco Simone Montano Davide Seveso Paolo Galli Daniela Coppola Donatella de Pascale Christian Galasso |
| author_facet | Fortunato Palma Esposito Andrea López-Mobilia Michael Tangherlini Vincenza Casella Alessandro Coppola Giulia Varola Laura Vitale Gerardo Della Sala Pietro Tedesco Simone Montano Davide Seveso Paolo Galli Daniela Coppola Donatella de Pascale Christian Galasso |
| author_sort | Fortunato Palma Esposito |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Coral reef survival is crucial for the socio-ecological interest of many countries, particularly for the Republic of Maldives, whose reef integrity influences the country’s livelihoods and economy. These ecosystems are being severely impacted by multiple stressors, leading to declines in biodiversity. In the last few decades, researchers have focused on studying coral-associated microorganisms (CAMs) and their symbiotic role in coral health and resilience. Metabarcoding analysis has been widely utilized to study CAM diversity under various conditions but provides limited information on their functional roles. Therefore, cultivation of bacterial strains remains indispensable for validating ecological and biotechnological hypotheses. In this study, we investigated the microbial community associated with two abundant corals in Maldives, <i>Porites lobata</i> and <i>Acropora gemmifera</i>, and evaluated the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and UV-protectant properties of 10 promising isolated strains. The selected CAMs, <i>Pseudoalteromonas piscicida</i> 39, <i>Streptomyces parvus</i> 79, <i>Microbacterium</i> sp. 92 (a potential novel species), and <i>Micromonospora arenicola</i> 93, exhibited antibiotic activity against a panel of pathogenic strains (MIC from 0.01 to 500 µg/mL), antioxidant (comparable effect to that of Trolox and ascorbic acid), and UV-screen activities (protection of human keratinocytes at 200 µg/mL). Genomes revealed their dual potential in contributing to coral restoration and drug discovery strategies. These findings highlight the biotechnological relevance of CAMs, representing an important step toward the identification of novel and bioactive bacterial species beneficial for coral reef ecosystems and human health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-428dd4de8515406ab12f3eae0d635e53 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2079-7737 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-428dd4de8515406ab12f3eae0d635e532025-08-20T02:17:25ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372025-04-0114440110.3390/biology14040401Novel Insights and Genomic Characterization of Coral-Associated Microorganisms from Maldives Displaying Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and UV-Protectant ActivitiesFortunato Palma Esposito0Andrea López-Mobilia1Michael Tangherlini2Vincenza Casella3Alessandro Coppola4Giulia Varola5Laura Vitale6Gerardo Della Sala7Pietro Tedesco8Simone Montano9Davide Seveso10Paolo Galli11Daniela Coppola12Donatella de Pascale13Christian Galasso14Department of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Research Infrastructures for Marine Biological Resources, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Fano Marine Centre, Viale Adriatico 1, 61032 Fano, ItalyDepartment of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, 20126 Milano, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, 20126 Milano, ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, 20126 Milano, ItalyDepartment of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology, Calabria Marine Centre, CRIMAC (Centro Ricerche ed Infrastrutture Marine Avanzate in Calabria), Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, C. da Torre Spaccata, 87071 Amendolara, ItalyCoral reef survival is crucial for the socio-ecological interest of many countries, particularly for the Republic of Maldives, whose reef integrity influences the country’s livelihoods and economy. These ecosystems are being severely impacted by multiple stressors, leading to declines in biodiversity. In the last few decades, researchers have focused on studying coral-associated microorganisms (CAMs) and their symbiotic role in coral health and resilience. Metabarcoding analysis has been widely utilized to study CAM diversity under various conditions but provides limited information on their functional roles. Therefore, cultivation of bacterial strains remains indispensable for validating ecological and biotechnological hypotheses. In this study, we investigated the microbial community associated with two abundant corals in Maldives, <i>Porites lobata</i> and <i>Acropora gemmifera</i>, and evaluated the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and UV-protectant properties of 10 promising isolated strains. The selected CAMs, <i>Pseudoalteromonas piscicida</i> 39, <i>Streptomyces parvus</i> 79, <i>Microbacterium</i> sp. 92 (a potential novel species), and <i>Micromonospora arenicola</i> 93, exhibited antibiotic activity against a panel of pathogenic strains (MIC from 0.01 to 500 µg/mL), antioxidant (comparable effect to that of Trolox and ascorbic acid), and UV-screen activities (protection of human keratinocytes at 200 µg/mL). Genomes revealed their dual potential in contributing to coral restoration and drug discovery strategies. These findings highlight the biotechnological relevance of CAMs, representing an important step toward the identification of novel and bioactive bacterial species beneficial for coral reef ecosystems and human health.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/4/401climate changecoral reefsMaldivescoral-associated microorganismsbioactivitygenome annotation |
| spellingShingle | Fortunato Palma Esposito Andrea López-Mobilia Michael Tangherlini Vincenza Casella Alessandro Coppola Giulia Varola Laura Vitale Gerardo Della Sala Pietro Tedesco Simone Montano Davide Seveso Paolo Galli Daniela Coppola Donatella de Pascale Christian Galasso Novel Insights and Genomic Characterization of Coral-Associated Microorganisms from Maldives Displaying Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and UV-Protectant Activities Biology climate change coral reefs Maldives coral-associated microorganisms bioactivity genome annotation |
| title | Novel Insights and Genomic Characterization of Coral-Associated Microorganisms from Maldives Displaying Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and UV-Protectant Activities |
| title_full | Novel Insights and Genomic Characterization of Coral-Associated Microorganisms from Maldives Displaying Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and UV-Protectant Activities |
| title_fullStr | Novel Insights and Genomic Characterization of Coral-Associated Microorganisms from Maldives Displaying Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and UV-Protectant Activities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Novel Insights and Genomic Characterization of Coral-Associated Microorganisms from Maldives Displaying Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and UV-Protectant Activities |
| title_short | Novel Insights and Genomic Characterization of Coral-Associated Microorganisms from Maldives Displaying Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and UV-Protectant Activities |
| title_sort | novel insights and genomic characterization of coral associated microorganisms from maldives displaying antimicrobial antioxidant and uv protectant activities |
| topic | climate change coral reefs Maldives coral-associated microorganisms bioactivity genome annotation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/4/401 |
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