Marine cosmetics and the blue bioeconomy: From sourcing to success stories.

As the global population continues to grow, so does the demand for longer, healthier lives and environmentally responsible choices. Consumers are increasingly drawn to naturally sourced products with proven health and wellbeing benefits. The marine environment presents a promising yet underexplored resource for the cosmetics industry, offering bioactive compounds with the potential for safe and biocompatible ingredients.

Chemical composition and egg production capacity throughout bloom development of ctenophore in the northern Adriatic Sea.

High abundances of gelatinous zooplankton (GZ) can significantly impact marine ecosystem by acting as both sink and source of organic matter (OM) and nutrients. The decay of GZ bloom can introduce significant amount of OM to the ocean interior, with its variability influenced by GZ life traits and environmental factors, impacting microbial communities vital to marine biogeochemical cycles. The invasive ctenophores has formed massive blooms in the northern Adriatic Sea since 2016.

Effect of forced aeration on the biogeochemical cycle of nutrients and metal(loid)s as a remedy for hypoxia in a permanently stratified estuary (Gulf of Trieste, northern Adriatic Sea).

The Timavo River estuary (northern Adriatic Sea) is characterised by strong thermohaline stratification that keeps the deep waters hypoxic. The consequence is an harmful algal bloom at the surface in summer that can be mitigated with a forced aeration system installed at the bottom to improve water oxygenation. The nutrient and metal(loid) cycle was investigated, before and during reoxygenation, using an in situ benthic chamber coupled with sampling and analyses of the water column, sediments and porewater.

Annual recurrence of prokaryotic climax communities in shallow waters of the North Mediterranean.

In temperate coastal environments, wide fluctuations of biotic and abiotic factors drive microbiome dynamics. To link recurrent ecological patterns with planktonic microbial communities, we analysed a monthly-sampled 3-year time series of 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data, alongside environmental variables, collected at two stations in the northern Adriatic Sea. Time series multivariate analyses allowed us to identify three stable, mature communities (climaxes), whose recurrence was mainly driven by changes in photoperiod and temperature.

Bacterial degradation of ctenophore organic matter.

Blooms of gelatinous zooplankton, an important source of protein-rich biomass in coastal waters, often collapse rapidly, releasing large amounts of labile detrital organic matter (OM) into the surrounding water. Although these blooms have the potential to cause major perturbations in the marine ecosystem, their effects on the microbial community and hence on the biogeochemical cycles have yet to be elucidated. We conducted microcosm experiments simulating the scenario experienced by coastal bacterial communities after the decay of a ctenophore () bloom in the northern Adriatic Sea.

Dissolved gaseous mercury production and sea-air gaseous exchange in impacted coastal environments of the northern Adriatic Sea.

The northern Adriatic Sea is well known for mercury (Hg) contamination mainly due to historical Hg mining which took place in Idrija (Slovenia). The formation of dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) and its subsequent volatilisation can reduce the amount of Hg available in the water column. In this work, the diurnal patterns of both DGM production and gaseous elemental Hg (Hg) fluxes at the water-air interface were seasonally evaluated in two selected environments within this area, a highly Hg-impacted, confined fish farm (VN: Val Noghera, Italy) and an open coastal zone less impacted by Hg inputs (PR: Bay of Piran, Slovenia).

Optimization of a Calcium-Based Treatment Method for Jellyfish to Design Food for the Future.

Edible jellyfish are a traditional Southeast Asian food, usually prepared as a rehydrated product using a salt and alum mixture, whereas they are uncommon in Western Countries and considered as a novel food in Europe. Here, a recently developed, new approach for jellyfish processing and stabilization with calcium salt brining was upgraded by modifying the pre-treatment step of freshly caught jellyfish and successfully applied to several edible species. Treated jellyfish obtained by the application of the optimized version of this method respected both quality and safety parameters set by EU law, including no pathogenic microorganisms, absence or negligible levels of histamine and of total volatile basic nitrogen, no heavy metals; and the total bacterial, yeast, and mold counts were either negligible or undetectable.

Diversity of Molluscan Assemblage in Relation to Biotic and Abiotic Variables in Brown Algal Forests.

Canopy-forming macroalgae, mainly those belonging to the order Fucales, form the so-called brown algal forests, which are among the most productive assemblages in shallow coastal zones. Their vertical, branching canopies increase nearshore primary production, provide nursery areas for juvenile fish, and sustain understory assemblages of smaller algae and both sessile and vagile fauna. The majority of benthic invertebrates inhabiting these forests have larval stages that spend some time floating freely or swimming in the plankton.

Gaseous Mercury Exchange from Water-Air Interface in Differently Impacted Freshwater Environments.

Gaseous exchanges of mercury (Hg) at the water-air interface in contaminated sites strongly influence its fate in the environment. In this study, diurnal gaseous Hg exchanges were seasonally evaluated by means of a floating flux chamber in two freshwater environments impacted by anthropogenic sources of Hg, specifically historical mining activity (Solkan Reservoir, Slovenia) and the chlor-alkali industry (Torviscosa dockyard, Italy), and in a pristine site, Cavazzo Lake (Italy). The highest fluxes (21.

Microbial Consortiums of Putative Degraders of Low-Density Polyethylene-Associated Compounds in the Ocean.

Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most abundant plastics in the ocean. The development of a biofilm on PE in the ocean has been reported, yet whether some of the biofilm-forming organisms can biodegrade this plastic in the environment remains unknown. Via metagenomics analysis, we taxonomically and functionally analyzed three biofilm communities using low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as their sole carbon source for 2 years.

Bacterial Indicators Are Ubiquitous Members of Pelagic Microbiome in Anthropogenically Impacted Coastal Ecosystem.

Coastal zones are exposed to various anthropogenic impacts, such as different types of wastewater pollution, e.g., treated wastewater discharges, leakage from sewage systems, and agricultural and urban runoff.

Plastics in our ocean as transdisciplinary challenge.

This conference report summarizes the current challenges of researching microplastics pollution in the ocean as debated by international experts and stakeholders at a workshop held in San Sebastián, Spain, 1-2 October 2019. The transdisciplinary, co-learning approach of this report stressed the need to incorporate multiple perspective in solving the problem of microplastics and resulted in three proposed actions: (i) filtering microplastics from waste waters; (ii) mandatory ecolabels on plastic products packages; and (iii) circular economy of packaging plastics.

Microbial Processing of Jellyfish Detritus in the Ocean.

When jellyfish blooms decay, sinking jellyfish detrital organic matter (jelly-OM), rich in proteins and characterized by a low C:N ratio, becomes a significant source of OM for marine microorganisms. Yet, the key players and the process of microbial jelly-OM degradation and the consequences for marine ecosystems remain unclear. We simulated the scenario potentially experienced by the coastal pelagic microbiome after the decay of a bloom of the cosmopolitan s.

Between source and sea: The role of wastewater treatment in reducing marine microplastics.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a focal point for the removal of microplastic (MP) particles before they are discharged into aquatic environments. WWTPs are capable of removing substantial quantities of larger MP particles but are inefficient in removing particles with any one dimension of less than 100 μm, with influents and effluents tending to have similar quantities of these smaller particles. As a single WWTP may release >100 billion MP particles annually, collectively WWTPs are significant contributors to the problem of MP pollution of global surface waters.

Trace elements in the estuarine systems of the Gulf of Trieste (northern Adriatic Sea): A chemometric approach to depict partitioning and behaviour of particulate, colloidal and truly dissolved fractions.

Estuaries are transitional water systems where the hydrodynamic processes governing water circulation actively influence suspended particle transport and deposition. In the estuarine mixing zone, the strong physico-chemical gradients resulting from the interaction between river freshwater and seawater may affect the distribution, mobility and fate of several potentially toxic compounds, among which trace elements are of major concern. Knowledge regarding the partitioning behaviour of trace elements would provide essential scientific support for the environmental management of estuaries.

Jellyfish-Associated Microbiome in the Marine Environment: Exploring Its Biotechnological Potential.

Despite accumulating evidence of the importance of the jellyfish-associated microbiome to jellyfish, its potential relevance to blue biotechnology has only recently been recognized. In this review, we emphasize the biotechnological potential of host⁻microorganism systems and focus on gelatinous zooplankton as a host for the microbiome with biotechnological potential. The basic characteristics of jellyfish-associated microbial communities, the mechanisms underlying the jellyfish-microbe relationship, and the role/function of the jellyfish-associated microbiome and its biotechnological potential are reviewed.

Mercury speciation in various aquatic systems using passive sampling technique of diffusive gradients in thin-film.

Mercury (Hg) is one of the primary health concerns in natural and urbanised environments due to past and present natural and anthropogenic emissions. Its environmental cycle is driven by redox reactions, microbial metabolism and organic matter (OM) interactions, which may all lead to formation of bioaccumulative organic Hg species; methylmercury (MeHg), with damaging consequences for human and ecosystem health. Hence, Hg lability and bioavailability has been the focus of many investigations and assessed with a variety of chemical proxies in order to improve understanding of the conditions that lead to enhanced bioavailability of Hg and its species.

Oceanographic characteristics of the Adriatic Sea - Support to secondary HAOP spread through natural dispersal.

Vessels, specifically ballast water and hull fouling, are a major vector for the introduction of non-indigenous species (NIS) in European seas. The Mediterranean is one of the world's marine regions where their invasion is heaviest. The shallow Adriatic basin is a highly sensitive area that is already experiencing its consequences.

Selenium and Mercury Interactions in Apex Predators from the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic Sea).

Since the environmental levels of selenium (Se) can moderate the bioaccumulation and toxicity of mercury (Hg) in marine organisms, their interactions were studied in seawater, sediments, plankton and the benthic (Bull ray , Eagle ray ) and the pelagic (Pelagic stingray ) rays, as apex predators in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic Sea). Male and female rays showed no difference in the Se contents in muscle tissue. Pelagic species contained higher Se levels in muscle but slightly lower levels in the livers of both genders.

Accumulation of Po in coastal waters (Gulf of Trieste, northern Adriatic Sea).

The total activity of Po was determined by alpha-spectrometry in various samples (matrices) collected in the Gulf of Trieste (northern Adriatic Sea) where fresh water inflows, especially from the Isonzo River in the northern part, affect water quality. Observed Po levels were: 1) 0.56-3.