Diversity and bioactive potential of endospore-forming bacteria cultured from the marine sponge Haliclona simulans

Abstract

Aims: Despite the frequent isolation of endospore‐formers from marine sponges, little is known about the diversity and characterization of individual isolates. The main aims of this study were to isolate and characterize the spore‐forming bacteria from the marine sponge Haliclona simulans and to examine their potential as a source for bioactive compounds. Methods and Results: A bank of presumptive aerobic spore‐forming bacteria was isolated from the marine sponge H. simulans. These represented c. 1% of the total culturable bacterial population. A subgroup of thirty isolates was characterized using morphological, phenotypical and phylogenetic analysis. A large diversity of endospore‐forming bacteria was present, with the thirty isolates being distributed through a variety of Bacillus and Paenibacillus species. These included ubiquitous species, such as B. subtilis, B. pumilus, B. licheniformis and B. cereus group, as well as species that are typically associated with marine habitats, such as B. aquimaris, B. algicola and B. hwajinpoensis. Two strains carried the aiiA gene that encodes a lactonase known to be able to disrupt quorum‐sensing mechanisms, and various isolates demonstrated protease activity and antimicrobial activity against different pathogenic indicator strains, including Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus and Listeria monocytogenes. Conclusions: The marine sponge H. simulans harbours a diverse collection of endospore‐forming bacteria, which produce proteases and antibiotics. This diversity appears to be overlooked by culture‐dependent and culture‐independent methods that do not specifically target sporeformers. Significance and Impact of Study: Marine sponges are an as yet largely untapped and poorly understood source of endospore‐forming bacterial diversity with potential biotechnological, biopharmaceutical and probiotic applications. These results also indicate the importance of combining different methodologies for the comprehensive characterization of complex microbial populations such as those found in marine sponges.

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

“…Phelan et al . [11] reported that a bank of aerobic spore-forming bacteria was isolated from the marine sponge Haliclona simulans , belonging to the class of Demospongiae. A large diversity of endospore-forming bacteria was distributed through a variety of Bacillus species, including ubiquitous species, such as B. subtilis, B. pumilus (found by us in I. muscarum ), B. licheniformis and B. cereus group, as well as species that are typically associated with marine habitats, such as B. hwajinpoensis (found by us in I. muscarum and in G. cydonium ), B. aquimaris, B. algicola, B. baekryungensis (found by us in I. muscarum ).…”

Diversity and antimicrobial potential of culturable heterotrophic bacteria associated with the endemic marine spongeArenosclera brasiliensis

“…Comparisons between culturable bacterial communities from marine sponges are difficult to address since differences in media and culture conditions can significantly influence the isolation and cultivability of distinct bacterial isolates (Sipkema et al, 2011). In spite of this, it seems that some genera are commonly found among marine sponges, such as Pseudovibrio (Enticknap et al, 2006; Mohamed et al, 2008; Menezes et al, 2010; Santos et al, 2010; Flemer et al, 2011; Bruck, Reed & McCarthy, 2012; Margassery et al, 2012), Bacillus (Hentschel et al, 2001; Webster et al, 2001; Pabel et al, 2003; Lafi, Garson & Fuerst, 2005; Zhu, Li & Wang, 2008; Bruck et al, 2010; Devi et al, 2010; Santos et al, 2010; Flemer et al, 2011; Phelan et al, 2011; Bruck, Reed & McCarthy, 2012; Margassery et al, 2012), and Ruegeria (Mohamed et al, 2008; Menezes et al, 2010; Bruck, Reed & McCarthy, 2012; Margassery et al, 2012; Esteves et al, 2013; Haber & Ilan, 2013). Such bacterial genera can be found in distinct marine sponge species collected at distant geographic areas and with low phylogenetic relationship.…”

“…Paenibacillus isolates belong to the microbial community of sponges, although they are found less abundantly than Bacillus (Phelan et al, 2011). The physiological role of sporeformers within sponge tissues is still unknown (Phelan et al, 2011), but probiotic activity was verified in Bacillus cereus and Paenibacillus sp.…”

“…The physiological role of sporeformers within sponge tissues is still unknown (Phelan et al, 2011), but probiotic activity was verified in Bacillus cereus and Paenibacillus sp. against Vibrio spp., conferring high levels of survival of shrimp larvae (Ravi et al, 2007).…”

Antibacterial Activities of Bacteria Isolated from the Marine Sponges Isodictya compressa and Higginsia bidentifera Collected from Algoa Bay, South Africa

“…Furthermore, these microbes are proven to produce medically relevant compounds including ecteinascidin-743 (Yondelis ® ), dolastatin-10 (Adcetris ® ) and halichondrin B (Halaven ® ) [12]. As a result, marine sponge-associated microbes are sought after for natural product discovery [13,14,15,16] due to their potential for delivering novel bioactive compounds [17,18]. In general, the large scale production of microbial-derived secondary metabolites for study and use is hampered by the lack of these bacteria in culture collections, either through an inability to culture them or identify the microbes responsible for producing an observed bioactivity [19].…”