Global climate change is a major threat to marine biodiversity worldwide. Average changes in ocean temperature, pH, and oxygenation are re-shaping marine communities, with significant impacts on the critical services that marine ecosystems provide to mankind. As global climate change continues, the frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme weather events are also predicted to increase, with fast and far-reaching consequences on marine species, including mass mortality and disruption of ecological processes. As a result, millions of ocean-dependent livelihoods and jobs are also at risk, with consequent economic impacts. Given the current climate and biodiversity crisis, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services has emphasized the relevance of (1) increasing knowledge and protection of biodiversity and (2) assessing species climate-driven extinction risks. To achieve these goals, we need to understand organism-environment-ecology-evolution interactions at various levels of the biological hierarchy, from molecules to ecosystems. However, we are still lacking a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms shaping phenotypic landscapes in the natural environment, and under different global change scenarios. To address such challenges, a new strategic program was also launched by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), “Molecules to Ecosystems”, to study life in context, and provide new research avenues in molecular life sciences. In this context, the emerging disciplines of Marine Omics and Marine Systems Biology will be key to supporting innovative solutions in marine ecosystem conservation and blue bioeconomy (for example uncover molecular traits underlying sensitivity/tolerance to environmental change, supporting assisted evolution approaches; molecular targets that can be used for diagnostics, monitoring and development of biotechnological applications).
The goal of this Research Topic is to gather contributions from marine scientists working on integrative and comparative biology, by combining omics technologies, computational biology, and measurements of whole-organism traits to answer relevant ecological and evolutionary questions within the context of global change and extreme weather events. We aim to (1) consolidate and expand knowledge on marine omics and systems biology under both laboratory and environmental contexts, (2) understand the values of adaptive molecular mechanisms and their plasticity, and (3) discover the relationships between traits and how their different functionalities influence marine species fitness.
Authors are invited to submit original research articles, reviews, methods, or opinion papers related (but not limited) to the following topics:
1. Single or multi-omic responses to single or multiple environmental stressors in the marine realm
2. Epigenetic mechanisms shaping acclimation of marine species to global change
3. Omics approaches comparing local adaptation patterns in marine species
4. Responses to single or multiple stressors from molecules to whole-organisms and ecosystems
5. Gene and metabolic regulatory networks in marine species
6. Novel molecular targets for adaptation of farmed species to global climate change
7. Biotechnological applications for abiotic stress resistance in marine species
Studies on all types of marine organisms are welcome.
Global climate change is a major threat to marine biodiversity worldwide. Average changes in ocean temperature, pH, and oxygenation are re-shaping marine communities, with significant impacts on the critical services that marine ecosystems provide to mankind. As global climate change continues, the frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme weather events are also predicted to increase, with fast and far-reaching consequences on marine species, including mass mortality and disruption of ecological processes. As a result, millions of ocean-dependent livelihoods and jobs are also at risk, with consequent economic impacts. Given the current climate and biodiversity crisis, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services has emphasized the relevance of (1) increasing knowledge and protection of biodiversity and (2) assessing species climate-driven extinction risks. To achieve these goals, we need to understand organism-environment-ecology-evolution interactions at various levels of the biological hierarchy, from molecules to ecosystems. However, we are still lacking a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms shaping phenotypic landscapes in the natural environment, and under different global change scenarios. To address such challenges, a new strategic program was also launched by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), “Molecules to Ecosystems”, to study life in context, and provide new research avenues in molecular life sciences. In this context, the emerging disciplines of Marine Omics and Marine Systems Biology will be key to supporting innovative solutions in marine ecosystem conservation and blue bioeconomy (for example uncover molecular traits underlying sensitivity/tolerance to environmental change, supporting assisted evolution approaches; molecular targets that can be used for diagnostics, monitoring and development of biotechnological applications).
The goal of this Research Topic is to gather contributions from marine scientists working on integrative and comparative biology, by combining omics technologies, computational biology, and measurements of whole-organism traits to answer relevant ecological and evolutionary questions within the context of global change and extreme weather events. We aim to (1) consolidate and expand knowledge on marine omics and systems biology under both laboratory and environmental contexts, (2) understand the values of adaptive molecular mechanisms and their plasticity, and (3) discover the relationships between traits and how their different functionalities influence marine species fitness.
Authors are invited to submit original research articles, reviews, methods, or opinion papers related (but not limited) to the following topics:
1. Single or multi-omic responses to single or multiple environmental stressors in the marine realm
2. Epigenetic mechanisms shaping acclimation of marine species to global change
3. Omics approaches comparing local adaptation patterns in marine species
4. Responses to single or multiple stressors from molecules to whole-organisms and ecosystems
5. Gene and metabolic regulatory networks in marine species
6. Novel molecular targets for adaptation of farmed species to global climate change
7. Biotechnological applications for abiotic stress resistance in marine species
Studies on all types of marine organisms are welcome.