Unlocking the Biotechnological Potential of Baltic Microorganisms

Hanna Mazur-Marzec^1*Łukasz Grabowski²Alicja Węgrzyn³Agata Błaszczyk¹Marta Cegłowska^4*Przemysław Dąbek⁵Momina Farooq¹Ewa Górecka⁵Agata Jurczak-Kurek⁶Anna K Kaczorowska⁷Tadeusz Kaczorowski⁸Marija Kataržytė⁹Robert Konkel¹Ewa Kotlarska¹⁰Donata Overlingė⁹Waldemar Surosz¹¹Anna Toruńska-Sitarz¹Semko Walat¹Monika Zielenkiewicz²Grzegorz Wegrzyn²

• ¹Department of Marine Biology and Biotechnology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
• ²Department of Molecular Biology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
• ³University Center for Applied and Interdisciplinary Research, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
• ⁴Department of Marine Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland
• ⁵Institute of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Szczecn, Szczecin, Poland
• ⁶Department of Evolutionary Genetics and Biosystematics, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
• ⁷Collection of Plasmids and Microorganisms, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
• ⁸Department of Microbiology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
• ⁹Marine Research Institute, Klaipedos universitetas, Klaipėda, Lithuania
• ¹⁰Department of Genetics and Marine Biotechnology, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland
• ¹¹Department of Phycology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland

Marine microorganisms are increasingly recognized as valuable sources of bioactive compounds and enzymes with diverse applications in biotechnology. Despite its relatively low overall biodiversity, the Baltic Sea harbours a variety of diatoms, dinoflagellates, bacteria (including cyanobacteria), fungi, and bacteriophages with notable biotechnological potential. These organisms produce metabolites with promising application in environmental remediation or as components of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics and biomaterials. Enzymes produced by Baltic Sea bacteria catalyse reactions of industrial relevance, while bacteriophages may provide novel tools for pathogen control in aquaculture or serve as sources of genes encoding for valuable enzymes. Although advances in high-throughput genomics and metabolomics have accelerated marine biodiscovery, Baltic Sea microorganisms remain largely understudied and underexploited by industry. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the biotechnological potential of the Baltic Sea microorganisms and highlights opportunities to bridge the gap between basic research and commercial application, particularly in the context of international frameworks such as the Nagoya Protocol.