Haliclona is one of the most species-rich genera among Demospongiae, but with only 11 species recorded for the Brazilian coast. Here we describe two new species of Haliclona collected by trawling at Sergipe State (Northeastern Brazil). Haliclona (Halichoclona) dura sp. nov. is distinguished by the combination of confused choanosome with dense reticulation, oxeas with stepped and mucronate point...

We present a mathematical model of the genetic regulation controlling skeletogenesis and the influence of the physical environment on a branching sponge with accretive growth (e.g. Haliclona oculata or Lubomirskia baikalensis). From previous work, it is known that high concentrations of silicate induce spicule formation and upregulate the silicatein gene. The upregulation of this gene activates...

In this paper we describe two species of the cosmopolitan sponge genus Haliclona from Rio de Janeiro State, SE Brazil, one of which is new to science and the other a new record to Brazil. Haliclona (Rhizoniera) fugidia sp. nov. is brownish-pink, salmon or cream, thickly encrusting, without oscular tubes and tangential ectosomal reticulation. Choanosomal skeleton is a mostly unispicular ladder-l...

In order to produce microalgal lipids that can be transformed to biodiesel fuel, effects of concentration of CO(2) aeration on the biomass production and lipid accumulation of Nannochloropsis oculata in a semicontinuous culture were investigated in this study. Lipid content of N. oculata cells at different growth phases was also explored. The results showed that the lipid accumulation from loga...

Nannochloropsis oculata is a marine-water microalgae that is considered to be a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), utilized in the production of an omega-3 oil for use as a dietary supplement. This study investigates the safety of N. oculata in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats administered a 0 or 10 mL/kg bw/rat N. oculata (10E8 viable cells/mL) sus...

Microalgae can produce various natural products such as pigments, enzymes, unique fatty acids and vitamin that benefit humans. The objective of the study is to study the bioaccessibility of carotenoids (β-carotene and lycopene) and vitamin E (α- and β-tocopherol) of Nannochloropsis oculata and Chaetoceros calcitrans. Analyses were carried out for both the powdered forms of N. oculata and C. cal...

The gene induced in response to Cd exposure in microalga Nannochloropsis oculata was examined in this investigation. In order to isolate this gene by using nested PCR, degenerated primers were designed on the basis of highly conserved regions of the amino acid sequences of various phytochelatin synthase. The size of the nested PCR amplification product from Nannochloropsis oculata by using two ...

Effects of an alginate oligosaccharide mixture (AOM) on Nannochloropsis oculata, a unicellular marine microalga, were investigated. The growth of N. oculata was significantly promoted by AOM in a concentration-dependent manner. The maximum effect was attained at 20 mg/ml, at which the growth rate of the alga became nearly 5 times higher than that of control without AOM. The growth-promoting eff...

3-Alkyl pyridinium alkaloids (3-APAs) are common secondary metabolites in marine sponges of the order Haplosclerida. In recent years, our laboratory has isolated and synthesized several new members of this family such as haliclamines C-F, viscosamine, viscosaline and a cyclic monomer. All of them were isolated from the Arctic sponge Haliclona viscosa collected in Spitsbergen, Norway. In this ar...

Although various anticancer drugs have been developed for the treatment of nonsmall cell lung cancer, chemotherapeutic efficacy is still limited. Natural products such as phytochemicals have been screened as novel alternative materials, but alternative funds such as marine bioresources remain largely untapped. Of these resources, marine sponges have undergone the most scrutiny for their biologi...