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6.1 Introduction
Seagrasses are flowering monocotyledonous plants which grow in the marine
environment and belong all in the order Alismatales. Seagrasses constitute a valuable part of the aquatic ecosystems, by providing food and shelter mainly in nursery grounds. Their cosmopolitan expansion renders them as a very important part
of the global marine biodiversity scaffold. Seagrass habitats have been rated as
those of the most economically important part of the earth biome (Costanza et al.
1998). Furthermore, because of their sensitivity to water quality, seagrasses can
be utilized as bioindicators of the ecosystem health. They prevent erosion by
absorbing the forces of the waves and currents, which impact shallower waters.
Seagrasses also act as carbon traps for a decent amount of the total carbon fixed
in the oceans. Their high capacity to store organic carbon is explained as a result
of their high primary production and their capacity to filter particles from the
water column. Organic carbon is stably stored for several meters in the seabed
(Fourqurean et al. 2012), unlike terrestrial forests that decline as a result of deforestation and increased land used by humans. Large-scale research on seagrasses
will contribute toward biodiversity monitoring, conservation, and management
policies in the near future.
6.2 Systems Biology
Biological systems are quite complex, and they cannot become comprehensible by
focusing in individual parts. We can draw a parallel between systems biology and a
satellite that views earth, with rivers, mountains, oceans, and continents, instead of
studying a specific river or a mountain.
Systems biology is defined as the science of computational modeling of complex
biological systems using modern holistic approaches. It studies the dynamic interactions in a biological object, in order to understand all the intrinsic complex processes among living organisms, by combining experimental designs with
mathematical models. Systems biology is commonly an interdisciplinary approach
of computational science, molecular biology, and biochemistry, investigating and
predicting the network components and their systems interactions, with new highthroughput techniques, by merging all these data into dynamical simulation models.
It combines traditional biological research strategies with theoretical disciplines
including physics, engineering, computer science, and mathematics (Green 2017).
Thus, the development of systems biology is a multidimensional process with different theoretical approaches.
Seagrasses can be confronted as complex biological systems of their
molecular ingredients such as metabolites, RNA, DNA, proteins, ions, and
their interactions within (Cramer et al. 2011). The rapid development of highthroughput technologies, also known as “omics” (genomics, proteomics,
E.E. Malandrakis et al.
6.1 Introduction
Seagrasses are flowering monocotyledonous plants which grow in the marine
environment and belong all in the order Alismatales. Seagrasses constitute a valuable part of the aquatic ecosystems, by providing food and shelter mainly in nursery grounds. Their cosmopolitan expansion renders them as a very important part
of the global marine biodiversity scaffold. Seagrass habitats have been rated as
those of the most economically important part of the earth biome (Costanza et al.
1998). Furthermore, because of their sensitivity to water quality, seagrasses can
be utilized as bioindicators of the ecosystem health. They prevent erosion by
absorbing the forces of the waves and currents, which impact shallower waters.
Seagrasses also act as carbon traps for a decent amount of the total carbon fixed
in the oceans. Their high capacity to store organic carbon is explained as a result
of their high primary production and their capacity to filter particles from the
water column. Organic carbon is stably stored for several meters in the seabed
(Fourqurean et al. 2012), unlike terrestrial forests that decline as a result of deforestation and increased land used by humans. Large-scale research on seagrasses
will contribute toward biodiversity monitoring, conservation, and management
policies in the near future.
6.2 Systems Biology
Biological systems are quite complex, and they cannot become comprehensible by
focusing in individual parts. We can draw a parallel between systems biology and a
satellite that views earth, with rivers, mountains, oceans, and continents, instead of
studying a specific river or a mountain.
Systems biology is defined as the science of computational modeling of complex
biological systems using modern holistic approaches. It studies the dynamic interactions in a biological object, in order to understand all the intrinsic complex processes among living organisms, by combining experimental designs with
mathematical models. Systems biology is commonly an interdisciplinary approach
of computational science, molecular biology, and biochemistry, investigating and
predicting the network components and their systems interactions, with new highthroughput techniques, by merging all these data into dynamical simulation models.
It combines traditional biological research strategies with theoretical disciplines
including physics, engineering, computer science, and mathematics (Green 2017).
Thus, the development of systems biology is a multidimensional process with different theoretical approaches.
Seagrasses can be confronted as complex biological systems of their
molecular ingredients such as metabolites, RNA, DNA, proteins, ions, and
their interactions within (Cramer et al. 2011). The rapid development of highthroughput technologies, also known as “omics” (genomics, proteomics,
E.E. Malandrakis et al.