Marine invertebrates are a paraphyletic group that comprises more than 90% of all marine animal species. Lipids form the structural basis of cell membranes, are utilized as an energy reserve by all marine invertebrates, and are, therefore, considered important indicators of their ecology and biochemistry. The nutritional value of commercial invertebrates directly depends on their lipid composition. The lipid classes and fatty acids of marine invertebrates have been studied in detail, but data on their lipidomes (the profiles of all lipid molecules) remain very limited. To date, lipidomes or their parts are known only for a few species of mollusks, coral polyps, ascidians, jellyfish, sea anemones, sponges, sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, crabs, copepods, shrimp, and squid. This paper reviews various features of the lipid molecular species of these animals. The results of the application of the lipidomic approach in ecology, embryology, physiology, lipid biosynthesis, and in studies on the nutritional value of marine invertebrates are also discussed. The possible applications of lipidomics in the study of marine invertebrates are considered.

In Arabidopsis, the RING finger-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase HIGH EXPRESSION OF OSMOTICALLY RESPONSIVE GENES 1 (HOS1) functions as a main regulator of the cold signaling. In this study, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted mutagenesis of the HOS1 gene in the first exon was performed. DNA sequencing showed that frameshift indels introduced by genome editing of HOS1 resulted in the appearance of premature stop codons, disrupting the open reading frame. Obtained hos1^Cas9 mutant plants were compared with the SALK T-DNA insertion mutant, line hos1-3, in terms of their tolerance to abiotic stresses, accumulation of secondary metabolites and expression levels of genes participating in these processes. Upon exposure to cold stress, enhanced tolerance and expression of cold-responsive genes were observed in both hos1-3 and hos1^Cas9 plants. The hos1 mutation caused changes in the synthesis of phytoalexins in transformed cells. The content of glucosinolates (GSLs) was down-regulated by 1.5-times, while flavonol glycosides were up-regulated by 1.2 to 4.2 times in transgenic plants. The transcript abundance of the corresponding MYB and bHLH transcription factors, which are responsible for the regulation of secondary metabolism in Arabidopsis, were also altered. Our data suggest a relationship between HOS1-regulated downstream signaling and phytoalexin biosynthesis.

The present study reports a green chemistry approach for the rapid and easy biological synthesis of silver (Ag), gold (Au), and bimetallic Ag/Au nanoparticles using the callus extract of Lithospermum erythrorhizon as a reducing and capping agent. The biosynthesized nanoparticles were characterized with ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Our results showed the formation of crystalline metal nanostructures of both spherical and non-spherical shape. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy showed the characteristic peaks in the silver and gold regions, confirming the presence of the corresponding elements in the monometallic particles and both elements in the bimetallic particles. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy affirmed the role of polysaccharides and polyphenols of the L. erythrorhizon extract as the major reducing and capping agents for metal ions. In addition, our results showed that the polysaccharide sample and the fraction containing secondary metabolites isolated from L. erythrorhizon were both able to produce large amounts of metallic nanoparticles. The biosynthesized nanoparticles demonstrated cytotoxicity against mouse neuroblastoma and embryonic fibroblast cells, which was considerably higher for Ag nanoparticles and for bimetallic Ag/Au nanoparticles containing a higher molar ratio of silver. However, fibroblast migration was not significantly affected by any of the nanoparticles tested. The obtained results provide a new example of the safe biological production of metallic nanoparticles, but further study is required to uncover the mechanism of their toxicity so that the biomedical potency can be assessed.

A simple approach toward the synthesis of the marine sponge derived pigment fascaplysin was used to obtain the marine alkaloids 3-bromofascaplysin and 3,10-dibromofascaplysin. These compounds were used for first syntheses of the alkaloids 14-bromoreticulatate and 14-bromoreticulatine. Preliminary bioassays showed that 14-bromoreticulatine has a selective antibiotic (to Pseudomonas aeruginosa) activity and reveals cytotoxicity toward human melanoma, colon, and prostate cancer cells. 3,10-Dibromofascaplysin was able to target metabolic activity of the prostate cancer cells, without disrupting cell membrane’s integrity and had a wide therapeutic window amongst the fascaplysin alkaloids.

From a root bark of Lespedeza bicolor Turch we isolated two new (7 and 8) and six previously known compounds (1–6) belonging to the group of prenylated polyphenols. Their structures were elucidated using mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance and circular dichroism spectroscopy. These natural compounds selectively inhibited human drug-resistant prostate cancer in vitro. Prenylated pterocarpans 1–3 prevented the cell cycle progression of human cancer cells in S-phase. This was accompanied by a reduced expression of mRNA corresponding to several human cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). In contrast, compounds 4–8 induced a G1-phase cell cycle arrest without any pronounced effect on CDKs mRNA expression. Interestingly, a non-substituted hydroxy group at C-8 of ring D of the pterocarpan skeleton of compounds 1–3 seems to be important for the CDKs inhibitory activity.

Alkaloids attract great attention due to their valuable therapeutic properties. Stepharine, an aporphine alkaloid of Stephania glabra plants, exhibits anti-aging, anti-hypertensive, and anti-viral effects. The distribution of aporphine alkaloids in cell cultures, as well as whole plants is unknown, which hampers the development of bioengineering strategies toward enhancing their production. The spatial distribution of stepharine in cell culture models, plantlets, and mature micropropagated plants was investigated at the cellular and organ levels. Stepharine biosynthesis was found to be highly spatially and temporally regulated during plant development. We proposed that self-intoxication is the most likely reason for the failure of the induction of alkaloid biosynthesis in cell cultures. During somatic embryo development, the toxic load of alkaloids inside the cells increased. Only specialized cell sites such as vascular tissues with companion cells (VT cells), laticifers, and parenchymal cells with inclusions (PI cells) can tolerate the accumulation of alkaloids, and thus circumvent this restriction. S. glabra plants have adapted to toxic pressure by forming an additional transport secretory (laticifer) system and depository PI cells. Postembryonic growth restricts specialized cell site formation during organ development. Future bioengineering strategies should include cultures enriched in the specific cells identified in this study.