can you summarize the main finding interest/ feature of this sponge family Famil
ID: 179787 • Letter: C
Question
can you summarize the main finding interest/ feature of this sponge family
Family: Halichondriidae
The halichondrids form the most important members of demosponges. They are of particular interest because the composition of secondary metabolites is influenced by the presence of prokaryotic symbionts [91]. Sponges of the genus Halichondria such as Halichondria okadai and Halichondria melanodocia provide good examples for the importance of microalgal association in the production of natural compounds recovered from these invertebrates. Both species of Halichondria contain the protein phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid [14]. It was first isolated from the sponge Halichondria okadai, but, later it was found out that a dinoflagellate Prorocentrum lima produced the inhibitor [17]. Two unidentified bacteria of the genera Pseudomonas and Alteromonas have been isolated from Halichondria Okadai homogenates. The Pseudomonas sp. KK10206C produced a novel C50-carotenoid, okadaxanthine. It turned out to be a potent singlet oxygen quencher and a well known source of okadaic acid [61,92,93]. Alteromonas sp. was responsible for the production of a well-known lactam alteramide A. The genus Alteromonas was found commonly associated with marine sponges that produce macrolactam and amide ester compounds with cytotoxic and antimicrobial properties. The tetracyclic alkaloid alteramide A exhibited cytotoxic activity against leukemia P-388, lymphoma L-1210 and epidermal carcinoma KB cells [93–95]. A fungal strain, Trichoderma harzianum OUPS-N115, isolated from the Japanese specimen of Halichondria okadai yielded novel cytotoxic compounds such as trichodenone A, B and C. They exhibited significant cytotoxicity against leukemia P388 cell line [79,96,97]. A Gram-bacterial strain Rubritalea squalenifasciens HOact23T obtained from Halichondria okadai yielded potent red pigmented antioxidants acyl glycol-carotenoic acids such as diapolycopenedioic acid xylosyl esters A, B and C [30,48,98]. Another Halichondria species, Halichondria panacea, which occurs abundantly in the Adriatic Sea, North Sea and Baltic Sea, was colonized by bacteria in its mesohyl compartment. Moreover, different specimens of Halichondria panacea collected from all the three seas harboured bacteria of same genera and indicated the dominance of the genus Rhodobacter, suggesting the symbiotic relationship of these bacteria with the sponge. Evidence has been presented to support that growth of bacteria in Halichondria panacea is maintained by a lectin produced from eukaryotic host. The organic extracts prepared from the sponge samples displayed cytotoxicity against leukemia cells, which supports the possibility of toxic bacteria in the sponges [99]. Bacteria synthesizing neuroactive compounds were also isolated from Halichondria panacea. Two such bacterial species were identified from this sponge which displayed the highest identity to Antarcticum vesiculatum and Psychroserpens burtonensis[100]. An actinobacterium Microbacterium sp. isolated from the sponge Halichondria panacea (Adriatic coast, Croatia) produced four glycoglycerolipids and one diphosphatidylglycerol when grown on marine broth and artificial sea water. The glycoglycerolipid, 2 (1-O-acyl-3-[R-glucopyranosyl-(1–3)-(6-O-acyl-R-mannopyranosyl)]glycerol), showed positive results for antitumor activities in the initial studies [101]. Novel cytotoxic compounds, designated as gymnastatins A-H, Q and R, cytotoxic ergastanoids such as gymnasterone A, B, C and D, novel class of steroid dankasterones A and B, and dankastatins A and B were isolated from an ascomycete fungal strain Gymnascella dankaliensis OUPS-N134, derived from the sponge Halichondria japonica. Gymnastatins A, B, C, F, G, Q and R, dankastatins A and B exhibited potent cytotoxicity and growth inhibition in a P388 lymphocytic leukemia test system in cell culture. Gymnastatin Q was equally active against breast and human cancer cell lines [78,102–107]. Gymnasterones B, C and D, and dankasterone A showed significant cytotoxic activity in P388 lymphocytic leukemia test system in cell culture. Dankasterone A was also active against human cancer cell lines [79,104,108,109]. Again from Halichondria Japonica, a fungal strain Phoma sp. Q60596 was obtained, which gave rise to the new antifungal antibiotic, YM-202204. It exhibited potent antifungal activities against Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans and Aspergillus fumigatus [110]. Novel antibiotics, YM-266183 and YM-266184, were found in the culture broth of Bacillus cereus QN03323, which was isolated from Halichondria japonica. They exhibited potent antibacterial activities against staphylococci and enterococci including multiple drug resistant strains, whereas they were inactive against Gram-bacteria [111–113]. The antifungal macrolid halichondramide from another Halichondria sp. showed resemblance to the compound scytophycin B, which was extracted earlier from the cyanobacterium Scytonema pseudohofmanni, and therefore halichondramide is speculated to be of microbial origin [114]. Halichondramide also showed in vitroantimalarial activity [115]. The marine bacterial strain Bacillus pumilus AAS3 isolated from the Mediterranean sponge Acanthella acuta, produced a diglucosyl-glycerolipid, GGL11. Lipase catalyzed modification of this native substance led to the deacylated parent compound GG11. Antitumor promoting studies showed that the diglucosyl-glycerol GG11 strongly inhibited the growth of the tumor cell lines HM02 and Hep G2. Thus, it indicates the potential inhibitory activity of the compound with carbohydrate/glycerol backbone [116]. Twenty nine marine bacterial strains were isolated from the sponge Hymeniacidon perlevisat Nanji Island (China Sea), and the antimicrobial screening showed that eight strains inhibited the growth of terrestrial microorganisms. Among them, the strain NJ6-3-1 with wide antimicrobial spectrum was identified as Pseudoalteromonas piscida based on its 16S rRNA sequence analysis. The major antimicrobial metabolite isolated from this bacterium was norhman [43,117]. Another specimen of Hymeniacidon perlevis from the intertidal zone of Fujiazhuang coastline (China) was identified to be a good source of large amount of culturable and active epi/endophytic fungal strains. Of the various fungal isolates obtained from Hymeniacidon perlevis, the extracts of epiphytic fungus Fusarium oxysporum DLFP2008005 exhibited effective antibacterial and antifungal activities against Gram+ Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis, Gram-Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the yeast Candida albicans. Several terrestrial as well as marine Fusarium species have been reported to produce structurally diversified antimicrobial compounds. The potential of fungi of the genus Fusarium as producers of novel antibiotics is therefore quite evident [44].
Explanation / Answer
The form of this sponge can be very polymorphic, varying from thin sheets, massive forms and cushions to branching-repent forms. Prone to give off stout branching processes which develop into oscular chimneys. The colour is also variable, green in well-lit sites owing to the presence of algae and cream-yellow in more shaded sites. The surface of the sponge is usually smooth, often with a slightly glassy appearance.
Habitat: An opportunistic species found in a wide range of habitats from the mid-shore to the lower-circalittoral and under a wide variety of physical conditions.
Distribution: A common species on all coasts of the British Isles.
Similar Species: This species can be difficult to identify in the field, however it does have a characteristic smell when fresh, once recognised this is a reliable character to use for field identification.
Key Identification Features:
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