Comparative sequence analysis of bacterial symbionts from the marine sponges Geodia cydonium and Ircinia muscarum

Abstract

Marine sponges (Porifera) live in a symbiotic relationship with microorganisms, primarily bacteria. Recently, several studies indicated that sponges are the most prolific source of biologically-active compounds produced by symbiotic microorganisms rather than by the sponges themselves. In the present study we characterized the bacterial symbionts from two Demospongiae, Ircinia muscarum and Geodia cydonium. We amplified 16S rRNA by PCR, using specific bacterial-primers. The phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of nine bacterial clones from I. muscarum and ten from G. cydonium. In particular, I. muscarum resulted enriched in Bacillus species and G. cydonium in Proteobacterium species. Since these bacteria were able to produce secondary metabolites with potential biotechnological and biopharmaceutical applications, we hypothesized that I. muscarum and G. cydonium could be a considered as a “gold mine” of natural products.

Phylogenetic Analysis and Screening of Antimicrobial and Antiproliferative Activities of Culturable Bacteria Associated with the AscidianStyela clavafrom the Yellow Sea, China

“…In this study, bacterial ascidian-derived strains from the genus Bacillus had the highest antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities, supporting the hypothesis that they might play a protective role in their hosts [75]. Bacillus strains are widely distributed in marine environments and are found to be associated with marine animals [76, 77]. They are culturable on many general-purpose media and have high proliferation rates and great adaptability [75].…”

Anti‐Inflammatory Effects of a Methanol Extract from the Marine Sponge Geodia cydonium on the Human Breast Cancer MCF‐7 Cell Line

“…Sponges, due to the enormous diversity of associated microorganism communities, have always been considered an explicit source of pharmaceutical products. Our recent results showed that a diverse assemblage of bacteria resided in the marine sponge G. cydonium [ 27 ], including Pseudoalteromonas spp. that is reported to produce prodigiosin, a well-known tripyrrolic red pigment with immunosuppressive and anticancer activities, mainly in human breast cancer [ 28 ].…”

Activation and Function of iNKT and MAIT Cells

“…The 1 0 carbon on the hexose sugar has an α linkage to the 1 carbon of the sphingosine base, and therefore these molecules highly resemble αGalCer in structure (Kawahara et al, 2002(Kawahara et al, , 2000. Because marine sponges harbor many bacteria that give rise to unusual metabolic products (Zuppa, Costantini, & Costantini, 2014); therefore, it is reasonable to propose that a bacteria associated with or colonizing the sponge A. mauritanius synthesized the first-discovered antigenic GSL. Representatives of this class of antigens are GSL-1 and GSL-1 0 .…”