Abstract
The ocean dominates the surface of our planet and plays a major role in regulating the biosphere. For example, the microscopic photosynthetic organisms living within provide 50% of the oxygen we breathe, and much of our food and mineral resources are extracted from the ocean. In a time of ecological crisis and major changes in our society, it is essential to turn our attention towards the sea to find additional solutions for a sustainable future. Remarkably, while we are overexploiting many marine resources, particularly the fisheries, the planktonic compartment composed of zooplankton, phytoplankton, bacteria and viruses, represents 95% of marine biomass and yet the extent of its diversity remains largely unknown and underexploited. Consequently, the potential of plankton as a bioresource for humanity is largely untapped. Due to their diverse evolutionary backgrounds, planktonic organisms offer immense opportunities: new resources for medicine, cosmetics and food, renewable energy, and long-term solutions to mitigate climate change. Research programs aiming to exploit culture collections of marine micro-organisms as well as to prospect the huge resources of marine planktonic biodiversity in the oceans are now underway, and several bioactive extracts and purified compounds have already been identified. This review will survey and assess the current state-of-the-art and will propose methodologies to better exploit the potential of marine plankton for drug discovery and for dermocosmetics.
Highlights
As the world population expands and ages, we need to prepare to face new challenges if we hope to live longer and healthier lives while conserving our planet and its natural resources for future generations
Ca2+-calmodulin-myosin light chain kinase, phosphorylation of the myosin light chain and constriction of the microvasculature. This bioactive blend can be used for vascular tonicity enhancement to correct redness and heavy legs syndrome. As another proof-of-concept from industry, the Soliance Company (Pomacle and Pleumeur-Bodou, France) has developed an innovative active ingredient, Megassane, from the cultivated marine microalgae P. tricornutum which is reputed as being rich in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), two essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
Economic constraints mean that most envisaged biotechnological applications would require strains that grow rapidly and being amenable to mass culture on an industrial scale. This is probably not the case for many of the strains maintained in culture collections, but again the range of strains available should allow compromises to be found between capacity for growth and capacity to produce a compound of interest
Summary
As the world population expands and ages, we need to prepare to face new challenges if we hope to live longer and healthier lives while conserving our planet and its natural resources for future generations. In addition to having more and more people to feed, current climate changes are causing reduced yields of some of our most common crops on a global scale [7,8], which may have dire effects in developing regions of the world It is not just the crops but entire ecosystems that may be remodeled as we continue to burn fossil fuel and release carbon in the atmosphere at a rate one million times faster than it takes the planet to sequester it [9].
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