Sponges are efficient filter feeders, removing significant portions of particulate and dissolved organic matter (POM, DOM) from the water column. While the assimilation and respiration of POM and DOM by sponges and their abundant microbial symbiont communities have received much attention, there is virtually no information on the impact of sponge holobiont metabolism on the composition of DOM a...

Sporadic mass mortality events of Mediterranean sponges following periods of anomalously high temperatures or longer than usual stratification of the seawater column (i.e. low food availability) suggest that these animals are sensitive to environmental stresses. The Mediterranean sponges Ircinia fasciculata and I. oros harbor distinct, species-specific bacterial communities that are highly stab...

A natural compound from the Red Sea sponge Ircinia sp., 2-hexaprenylhydroquinone (HPH), has been shown to be a general inhibitor of retroviral reverse transcriptases (from HIV-1, HIV-2 and murine leukaemia virus) as well as of cellular DNA polymerases (Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I, and DNA polymerases alpha and beta). The pattern of inhibition was found to be similar for all DNA polymerase...

Recent studies have unravelled the diversity of sponge-associated bacteria that may play essential roles in sponge health and metabolism. Nevertheless, our understanding of this microbiota remains limited to a few host species found in restricted geographical localities, and the extent to which the sponge host determines the composition of its own microbiome remains a matter of debate. We addre...

Sponges, which constitute the phylum Porifera, are the most primitive of the multicellular animals, among all marine organisms screened. Marine sponges produce the largest number of structurally diversified natural products. In this study we investigated in vitro antimicrobial activity of Ircinia mutans collected from the Kish Island in the Persian Gulf against strains of bacteria Escherichia c...

Previous studies suggest that phototaxis in sponge larvae is generated by the bending of a tuft of long posterior cilia (LPC). The photoresponsiveness of these cilia is often assayed by examining their reaction to sudden changes in light intensity. Here, we document and describe the larvae of the tropical marine sponges Neopetrosia proxima and Xestospongia bocatorensis and examine the phototact...