Guest Editor Special Issue "Marine Microalgae"

Marine microalgae are the most diverse group of photosynthetic organisms living in the oceans. They have proved to be a surprising wealth of high value substances with potential as pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, and cosmeceuticals. In addition, due to the high content of lipids, they have gained interest as an exploitable and sustainable source of biofuels. Despite this, we still have poor knowledge regarding their metabolic pathways, often compared to plants, but, according to recent biochemical and molecular evidence, they are truly different. The striking plasticity by which they tune the levels of the end products of their metabolism suggests finely regulated metabolic fluxes in sensibly complex and peculiar biochemical networks. This Special Issue welcomes contributions from all fields of biosynthesis, metabolism and bioactive natural products and lipids from marine microalgae, aiming at a deeper comprehension and development of chemical and biochemical features of this fascinating group of microorganisms