The palatability of organic chemical extracts from ten of the most abundant sponge species along the Israeli (shallow) coast, eastern Mediterranean Sea (Axinella sp., Axinella polypoides, Chondrilla nucula, Ircinia sp., Psammocinia sp. 1, Psammocinia sp. 2, Psammocinia sp. 3, Psammocinia sp. 4, Sarcotragus sp. and Tetilla sp.) was tested. To examine the generality of the phenomenon, it was eval...

Chemical investigation of the marine sponge Ircinia fusca leads to isolation of a new pyrrole derivative (1) and two known compounds namely, 3 methyl decanoic acid (2) and Benzenedicarboxylic acid (3). The structures of compounds were established by 1D and 2D NMR and MS data. Compound 1 exhibited strong antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis at MIC 116 μM. Compounds 1-3 showed n...

For sessile marine invertebrates with complex life cycles, habitat choice is directed by the larval phase. Defining which habitat-linked cues are implicated in sessile invertebrate larval settlement has largely concentrated on chemical cues which are thought to signal optimal habitat. There has been less effort establishing physical settlement cues, including the role of surface microtopography...

We investigate an outcrop of 187 Ma lacustrine pillow basalts of the Talcott Formation exposed in Meriden, Connecticut, USA, focusing on coordinated analyses of one pillow lava to characterize the aqueous history of these basalts in the Hartford Basin. This work uses a suite of multidisciplinary measurements, including hyperspectral imaging, other spectroscopic techniques, and chemical and mine...

In order to check the structure-activity relationship and find more potent derivatives of the natural products 1 and 2 obtained from sponge Ircinia spinosula, a series of oxidation, hydrogenation, acetylation and methylation derivatives was prepared. All compounds (natural and synthetic ones) were screened for their cytotoxic and antibacterial activities. The biological studies showed a wide ra...

Tryptophol [2-(3-indolyl)-ethanol], a well-known constituent of terrestrial plants and microorganisms, has so far been isolated from tryptophan fermentations, plant seedlings, Aspergillus niger, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Ceratocystis spp., and Rhizobium spp. (Buckingham, 1994). We have now isolated tryptophol from the marine sponge Ircinia spinulosa collected from the Aegean Sea. In addition t...

Ethyl acetate extract of the sponge Ircinia sp., collected by SCUBA divers off the coast of southern India, contained a cholest-based sterol of insignificant antimicrobial activity, with one carboxylic acid side chain (3alpha, 7beta-dihydroxy-5beta-cholan-24-oic acid, DCA). The structure of the compound was determined by spectroscopic data and single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. DCA cryst...