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- Marine Natural Products as Anticancer AgentsPublication . Alves, Celso; Diederich, MarcCancer remains one of the major threats to human health and one of the deadliest diseases worldwide [1]. Therapy failure and consequent cancer relapse are the main factors contributing to high cancer mortality, making it crucial to find and develop new therapeutic options. Over the last few decades, natural products became one of the key drivers in the drug development of innovative cancer treatments [2]. In opposition to drug development from terrestrial resources, the marine environment only recently emerged as a prolific source of unparalleled structurally active metabolites [3]. Due to their excellent scaffold diversity, structural complexity, and ability to act on multiple cell signaling networks involved in carcinogenesis, marine natural products are ideal candidates to inspire the development of novel anticancer medicines [4,5].
- Ichthyofauna of the Selvagens Islands. Do small coastal areas show high species richness in the northeastern Atlantic?Publication . Almada, Frederico; Abecasis, David; Villegas-Ríos, David; Henriques, Sofia; Pais, Miguel P.; Batista, Marisa; Costa, Bárbara Horta; Martins, Joana; Tojeira, Inês; Rodrigues, Nuno Vasco; Araújo, Ricardo; Souto, Miguel; Alonso, Hany; Falcón, Jesús M.; Henriques, Filipe; Catry, Paulo; Cabral, Henrique; Biscoito, Manuel; Almada, Vitor C.The Selvagens Islands are located in the northeastern Atlantic between the Canary Islands and Madeira Island. As a result of their small size, remote location and harsh sea conditions only a few studies have been conducted to describe their marine species diversity. We were able to identify 29 new coastal fish species, an increase of 33% in the ichthyofauna described for these islands (n = 88). There is a prevalence of species with tropical affinities and only 2.3% (n = 2) are endemic to Macaronesia. Considered a stepping-stone colonization vector from the nearest continental shore, as proposed by other authors for this region, the Selvagens Islands host 34.1% of the ichthyofauna described for the much larger Canary Islands (nspecies = 258, submerged area nSelvagens Is. = 2.3%) and 47.3% of the ichthyofauna described for the more distantly located Madeira Island (nspecies = 186, submerged area nSelvagens Is. = 17.9%). Interestingly, 6.8% (n = 6) of the species failed to bridge the gap between the Selvagens Islands and Madeira Island. Data collected so far showed no trend toward an increasing number of species with high dispersal capability. The Selvagens Islands are an example of a high coastal species diversity occurring even in very small areas of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.
- Sensitivity of the sea snail Gibbula umbilicalis to mercury exposure – Linking endpoints from different biological organization levelsPublication . Cabecinhas, Adriana S.; Novais, Sara C.; Santos, Sílvia C.; Rodrigues, Andreia C.M.; Pestana, João L.T.; Soares, Amadeu M.V.M.; Lemos, Marco F.L.Mercury contamination is a common phenomenon in the marine environment and for this reason it is important to develop cost-effective and relevant tools to assess its toxic effects on a number of different species. To evaluate the possible effects of Hg in the sea snail Gibbula umbilicalis, animals were exposed to increasing concentrations of the contaminant in the ionic form for 96h. After this exposure period, mortality, feeding and flipping behavior, the activity of the biomarkers glutathione S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, lactate dehydrogenase and cholinesterase, the levels of lipid peroxidation and cellular energy allocation were measured. After 96h of exposure to the highest Hg concentration (≈LC20), there was a significant inhibition of the cholinesterase activity as well as impairment in the flipping behavior and post-exposure feeding of the snails. Cholinesterase inhibition was correlated with the impairment of behavioral responses also caused by exposure to Hg. These endpoints, including the novel flipping test, revealed sensitivity to Hg and might be used as relevant early warning indicators of prospective effects at higher biological organization levels, making these parameters potential tools for environmental risk assessment. The proposed test species showed sensitivity to Hg and proved to be a suitable and resourceful species to be used in ecotoxicological testing to assess effects of other contaminants in marine ecosystems.
- Optimisation of Alginate Extraction and Characterisation of Polysaccharides from Brown Seaweed from the Portuguese CoastPublication . Mendes, Joana Corrêa; Valente, Joana F. A.; Sousa, Fani; Bernardino, Raul; Bernardino, Susana; Afonso, Clélia; Chagas, BárbaraAlginate is a widely used and versatile biopolymer with an ever-expanding range of applications in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. This highlights the importance of developing sustainable and renewable production sources. Conventional extraction methods, although effective, are often energy-intensive and rely on harsh chemicals. In this context, brown algae are a promising alternative due to their abundance and renewability. This study investigated the potential of Saccorhiza polyschides and Sargassum muticum as sources of sodium alginate (SA), thus optimising an extraction process that combines acid treatment with an alkaline step. The extracted biopolymers were characterised using FTIR, H-NMR, STA, SEM/EDX, viscosity measurements, dynamic light scattering, and spectrophotometric assays of residual polyphenols and proteins. The optimised extraction conditions produced yields above 20% of high-purity alginate. When compared with commercial SA, the extracted materials showed comparable quality while relying on a simplified, solvent-reduced protocol that improves process efficiency and reduces the environmental impact. These results demonstrate that S. polyschides and S. muticum are promising, locally available sources of high-quality sodium alginate, and that industrially relevant yields (>20%) can be achieved through an environmentally conscious two-step extraction process.
- The study of bacterioplankton dynamics in the Berlengas Archipelago (West coast of Portugal) using the HJ-biplot methodPublication . Maranhão P.; Mendes, Susana; Fernández-Goméz, M. J.; Galindo-Villardón, M. P.; Azeiteiro, Ulisses; Bacelar-Nicolau, PaulaThe relationship between bacterioplankton and environmental forcing in the Berlengas Archipelago (Western Coast of Portugal) were studied between February 2006 and February 2007 in two sampling stations: Berlenga and Canal, using an HJ-biplot. The HJ-biplot showed a simultaneous display of the three main metabolic groups of bacteria involved in carbon cycling (aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, sulphate-reducing bacteria and nitrate-reducing bacteria) and environmental parameters, in low dimensions. Our results indicated that bacterial dynamics are mainly affected by temporal gradients (seasonal gradients with a clear winter versus summer opposition), and less by the spatial structure (Berlenga and Canal). The yearly variation in the abundance of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria were positively correlated with those in chlorophyll a concentration, whereas ammonium concentration and temperature decreased with increasing phosphates and nitrites concentration. The relationship between aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, chlorophyll a and ammonium reveals that phytoplankton is an important source of organic substrates for bacteria.
- The effect of sewage discharge on Melarhaphe neritoides (Gastropoda: Littorinidae) population dynamicsPublication . Cabral-Oliveira, J.; Maranhão, Paulo; Pardal, M. Â.The discharges of sewage effluent treatment plants has a major impact on coastal communities. In our study area (western coast of Portugal) Melarhaphe neritoides (L. 1758) is the dominant high-shore gastropod. Two populations of M. neritoides were studied in order to understand the impact of sewage discharges on intertidal communities: one popula tion in an impacted area and the other in a similar but unimpacted area (reference site). Environmental data and abundance, biomass, population structure and annual growth production of M. neritoides were estimated in the two areas. The results showed that M. neritoides density is higher in the impacted area as a result of massive settlement. The sewage discharge increases the nutrient concentrations in the water, which causes more microalgae to grow on the rocky surfaces. This higher availability of food may promote recruitment. However, we found high mortality in the juveniles in the impacted area, which affected density values on the upper shore levels (where we found the adults) of both areas. Moreover, the adults were bigger in the unimpacted area, which suggests that individuals grow more or live longer in this area.
- Fish diversity in the Berlengas Natural Reserve (Portugal), a marine protected areaPublication . Maranhão, Paulo; Vasco Rodrigues, Nuno; Mendes, Susana; Franco, João; Castanheira, Maria; Castro, NunoSince 1981, Berlengas, an archipelago located about 7 miles off Peniche (Western Coast of Portugal), became a marine protected area. Underwater visual census, namely rover diver counts, were used to assess the fish species present in the area during two summer campaigns, 2004 and 2005, comprising a total of 16 hours of scuba diving observations. This study aimed to obtain a more accurate and detailed checklist of the fish species present in the archipelago than the one already existing in result of a few previous studies. A total of 48 fish species belonging to 22 different families were observed during the two study periods. Labridae and Sparidae were the most represented families and Diplodus vulgaris and Labrus bergylta were the most frequent species.
- Effects of sewage pollution on the structure of rocky shore macroinvertebrate assemblagesPublication . Cabral-Oliveira, J.; Mendes, S.; Maranhão P.; Pardal, M. A.The urgency to find efficient indices and indicators to prevent further deterioration of coastal areas is one of the hot topics in today’s scientific publication. However, a detailed knowledge of community responses to anthropogenic impacts is essential to sustain those indices. The studies on the response of benthic community to sewage pollution on intertidal rocky shores are generally based on visual census and do not take into account the tidal levels. In order to fulfil this gap in this study: (i) the sampling was performed by destructive sampling, with all individuals identified to the species level; (ii) the sampling was done at all levels of the intertidal (sublittoral fringe, eulittoral, and littoral fringe). Sewage pollution changed the environmental variables and the abundance of macroinvertebrates, being Mytilus galloprovincialis, Melarhaphe neritoides, and Chthamalus montagui the species most responsible for the dissimilarities observed. Effects were different on the three intertidal zones: community structure changed in the sublittoral fringe; suspension-feeders abundances and species richness increased in the eulittoral; no differences were detected in the littoral fringe. Moreover, the results confirm that the presence of sewage discharges tended to benefit suspension feeders, and that the sensitive species were replaced by opportunistic ones.
- Zinc and cadmium concentrations in soft tissues of the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) after exposure to zinc and cadmiumPublication . Maranhão, Paulo; Marques, João C.; Madeira, Victor M.C.Zinc and cadmium concentrations in crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) soft tissues (as edible portion) were measured after exposure to zinc and cadmium at 0, 25, 50, or 100 mg/L for 96 h at 10 or 208C, and compared to environmental standards for human consumption. Results demonstrated that no significant change occurred in the concentrations of zinc in soft tissues of crayfish under the given conditions. Net accumulation of cadmium was observed at all experimental exposures, and exceeded the maximum allowed for human consumption only for those crayfish exposed to 100 mg/L at 208C.
- Pre- and Postharvest Determinants, Technological Innovations and By-Product Valorization in Berry Crops: A Comprehensive and Critical ReviewPublication . Gonçalves, Elsa M.; Ganhão, Rui; Pinheiro, JoaquinaBerries—including strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, and several less commonly cultivated berry species—are highly valued for their sensory quality and rich content of bioactive compounds, yet they are among the most perishable horticultural products. Their soft texture, high respiration rate, and susceptibility to fungal pathogens lead to rapid postharvest deterioration and significant economic losses. This review synthesizes advances in berry postharvest management reported between 2010 and 2025. Conventional strategies such as rapid precooling, cold-chain optimization, controlled and modified atmospheres, and edible coatings are discussed alongside emerging non-thermal technologies, including UV-C light, ozone, cold plasma, ultrasound, biocontrol agents, and intelligent packaging systems. Particular emphasis is placed on the instability of anthocyanins and other phenolic compounds, microbial spoilage dynamics, and the influence of cultivar genetics and preharvest factors on postharvest performance. The review also highlights opportunities for circular-economy applications, as berry pomace, seeds, and skins represent valuable sources of polyphenols, dietary fiber, and seed oils for use in food, nutraceutical, cosmetic, and bio-based packaging sectors. Looking ahead, future research should prioritize integrated, multi-hurdle, low-residue postharvest strategies, the scale-up of non-thermal technologies, and data-driven cold-chain management. Overall, coordinated physiological, technological, and sustainability-oriented approaches are essential to maintain berry quality, reduce postharvest losses, and strengthen the resilience of berry value chains.