In our ongoing search for bioactive substances from marine organisms, novel alkaloids have been isolated. Pinnatoxins and pinnamine, potent shellfish poisons, were purified from the Okinawan bivalve Pinna muricata. Pinnatoxins activate Ca channels. Halichlorine was isolated from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai. This compound inhibits the induction of VCAM-1. Drugs that block VCAM-1 may be...

Genomic mining revealed one major nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) phylogenetic cluster in 12 marine sponge species, one ascidian, an actinobacterial isolate and seawater. Phylogenetic analysis predicts its taxonomic affiliation to the actinomycetes and hydroxy-phenyl-glycine as a likely substrate. Additionally, a phylogenetically distinct NRPS gene cluster was discovered in the microbial...

Naturally produced polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) pervade the marine environment and structurally resemble toxic man-made brominated flame retardants. PBDEs bioaccumulate in marine animals and are likely transferred to the human food chain. However, the biogenic basis for PBDE production in one of their most prolific sources, marine sponges of the order Dysideidae, remains unidentified....

Due to the rise in multi-drug resistant pathogens and other diseases, there is renewed interest in marine sponge endosymbionts as a rich source of natural products (NPs). The South African marine environment is rich in marine biota that remains largely unexplored and may represent an important source for the discovery of novel NPs. We first investigated the bacterial diversity associated with f...

We report here four draft genome sequences belonging to clade F of the cyanobacterium "Candidatus Synechococcus spongiarum" of the marine sponge Aplysina aerophoba, which were collected from two nearby locations in the northern Adriatic Sea. The sequences provide the basis for within-clade comparisons between members of this widespread group of cyanobacterial sponge symbionts.

Three methods were examined to cultivate bacteria associated with the marine sponge Haliclona (gellius) sp.: agar plate cultures, liquid cultures, and floating filter cultures. A variety of oligotrophic media were employed, including media with aqueous and organic sponge extracts, bacterial signal molecules, and siderophores. More than 3,900 isolates were analyzed, and 205 operational taxonomic...

Poribacterial clone libraries constructed for Aplysina fulva sponge specimens were analysed with respect to diversity and phylogeny. Results imply the coexistence of several, prevalently "intra-specific" poribacterial genotypes in a single sponge host, and suggest quantitative analysis as a desirable approach in studies of the diversity and distribution of poribacterial cohorts in marine sponges.

We report here the 6.0-Mb draft genome assembly of Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea strain IPB1 that was isolated from the Hawaiian marine sponge Iotrochota protea Genome mining complemented with bioassay studies will elucidate secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways and will help explain the ecological interaction between host sponge and microorganism.

Ocean warming is affecting marine benthic ecosystems through mass mortality events that involve marine invertebrates, in particular bivalves, corals, and sponges. Among these events, extensive die-offs of Ircinia fasciculata sponges have been recurrently reported in western Mediterranean. The goal of our study was to test whether the temperature-related mass sponge die-offs were associated with...

Marine sponges often harbor dense and diverse microbial communities including actinobacteria. To date no comprehensive investigation has been performed on the culturable diversity of the actinomycetes associated with South China Sea sponges. Structurally novel aromatic polyketides were recently discovered from marine sponge-derived Streptomyces and Saccharopolyspora strains, suggesting that spo...