Fungi occupy an important ecological niche in the marine environment, and marine fungi possess an immense biotechnological potential. This study documents the fungal diversity associated with 39 species of sponges and determines their potential to produce secondary metabolites capable of interacting with mammalian G-protein-coupled receptors involved in blood pressure regulation. Total genomic DNA was extracted from 563 representative fungal strains obtained from marine sponges collected by SCUBA from the Caribbean and the Pacific regions of Panama. A total of 194 operational taxonomic units were found with 58% represented by singletons based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and partial large subunit (LSU) rDNA regions. Marine sponges were highly dominated by Ascomycota fungi (95.6%) and represented by two major classes, Sordariomycetes and Dothideomycetes. Rarefaction curves showed no saturation, indicating that further efforts are needed to reveal the entire diversity at this site. Several unique clades were found during phylogenetic analysis with the highest diversity of unique clades in the order Pleosporales. From the 65 cultures tested to determine their in vitro effect on angiotensin and endothelin receptors, the extracts of Fusarium sp. and Phoma sp. blocked the activation of these receptors by more than 50% of the control and seven others inhibited between 30 and 45%. Our results indicate that marine sponges from Panama are a "hot spot" of fungal diversity as well as a rich resource for capturing, cataloguing, and assessing the pharmacological potential of substances present in previously undiscovered fungi associated with marine sponges.

Coral reef health assessment has relied on benthic photographic surveys as an essential measurement tool for decades. The emergence of gigapixel image (1 billion pixels) stitching technologies makes possible the creation of high-definition benthic image map surveys (HDBIMS). These image maps provide the traditional overall percentage coverage data. In addition, they allow zoom capabilities in such detail that scientists can, for example, count the polyps on a coral head. While the image maps are easily viewed over the Internet, they are challenging to produce. Numerous previous studies have contributed to the advancement of high-definition benthic survey methods. This ongoing HDBIMS study is focused on production methods that (1) produce the best image quality for the lowest cost, (2) provide accurate and repeatable results at any depth over time, and (3) utilize off-the-shelf (OTS) stitching software that allows accurate results that can be reviewed in the field. This structured approach to image acquisition, integrated with the OTS grid-oriented stitching software, produces highly accurate benthic image maps.