Frontiers in Marine Science (Jun 2014)
Isolation of marine microorganisms from the Peniche coast with high biotechnological potential
Abstract
The marine environment represents more than two thirds of our planet and although it is a possible source of natural products with bioactivity, is still largely unexplored, which represents a huge window of opportunity. During the last decades Marine Biotechnology has focused some of their efforts in the search and study of marine bacteria and fungi. These microorganisms have been a valuable tool in several scientific studies, basically because they grow with relative ease, achieving considerable densities of cell mass. This is an important feature because these organisms also produce bioactive compounds, with applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food area, among others. Such compounds frequently arise from defense mechanisms or as response to stress. Annually, a growing number of new compounds from marine organisms are discovered, characterized and identified, and from these most are originated from bacteria and fungi. In the search process for natural products with proven activity, it is generally accepted that one should have a diverse and largely unexplored repertoire of microorganisms, as it enlarges the possibility of obtaining new and diverse metabolites. In the present work, results concerning the isolation of microorganisms of marine origin, obtained from the water and sediments of the Peniche coast, are shown. The main objective is to create a database of isolated microorganisms, and at the same time obtaining a basic characterization, with some interesting features from the biotechnology point of view, on viability of long-term of their cultures, as well as prepare raw extracts for bioactivity screening. Also basic microbiology characteristics will be register: gram stain, catalase, oxidase, use of different sugars and amino acids as a carbon source and on different concentrations growths of salinity, relatively to 20 strains already isolated.
Keywords
