The Marine Sponge Petrosia ficiformis Harbors Different Cyanobacteria Strains with Potential Biotechnological Application

Abstract

Marine cyanobacteria are a source of bioactive natural compounds, with a wide range of biotechnological applications. However, information on sponge-associated cyanobacteria are relatively scarce to date. In this paper, we carried out the morphological and molecular characterization of eight cyanobacterial strains, previously isolated from the Mediterranean sponge Petrosia ficiformis, and evaluated their biological activities on epithelial- and neuron-like cultured cells of human and murine origin. The new analysis allowed maintaining the assignment of three strains (Cyanobium sp., Leptolyngbya ectocarpi, and Synechococcus sp.), while two strains previously identified as Synechococcus sp. and Leptolyngbya sp. were assigned to Pseudanabaena spp. One strain, i.e., ITAC104, and the ITAC101 strain corresponding to Halomicronema metazoicum, shared extremely high sequence identity, practically representing two clones of the same species. Finally, for only one strain, i.e., ITAC105, assignment to a specific genus was not possible. Concerning bioactivity analyses, incubation of cyanobacterial aqueous cell supernatants induced variable responses in cultured cells, depending on cell type, with some of them showing toxic activity on human epithelial-like cells and no toxic effects on human and rat neuron-like cells. Future investigations will allow to better define the bioactive properties of these cyanobacteria strains and to understand if they can be useful for (a) therapeutic purpose(s).

Bioactive Potential of Two Marine Picocyanobacteria Belonging to Cyanobium and Synechococcus Genera

“…ITAC108 and Synechococcus sp. ITAC107, already characterized by morphological and molecular criteria [49]. Previous investigation on these two PCC strains, suggested better characterization of their potential as bioproducers given their ability to affect HeLa cell vitality [49] and to gain more insight into the nature of the more active molecules.…”

“…ITAC107, already characterized by morphological and molecular criteria [49]. Previous investigation on these two PCC strains, suggested better characterization of their potential as bioproducers given their ability to affect HeLa cell vitality [49] and to gain more insight into the nature of the more active molecules. The potential as producers of bioactive compounds of some strains of Synechococcus and Cyanobium genera was previously reported by some authors [27,[62][63][64] who emphasize the importance of also studying marine PCCs [22,24,27].…”

“…ITAC108, previously isolated from the Mediterranean marine sponge Petrosia ficiformis [45] were investigated in this study as target species for biological activity screening. Cyanobacterial strain identification was based on both morphological [7,47,48] and molecular criteria as previously described [49].…”

Bioactive Compounds from Marine Sponges: Fundamentals and Applications

“…There were eight strains of Cyanobacteria isolated from P. ficiformis : Cyanobium sp., Synechococcus sp., Pseudabaena sp., Leptolyngbya ectocarpi , Halomicronema cf. metazoicum , and Halomicronema metazoicum [ 197 ]. However, only Pseudabaena sp.…”

Symbioses of Cyanobacteria in Marine Environments: Ecological Insights and Biotechnological Perspectives

“…Cyanobacteria can contribute to sponge pigmentation and to the production of secondary metabolites, as defensive substances [ 134 ]. Several cyanobacterial strains were isolated from the Mediterranean sponge P. ficiformis [ 61 ]; some of these strains showed antiproliferative activity against human cells [ 61 , 135 ]. Aqueous extracts of isolated cyanobacteria (at 150 μg mL −1 , final concentration) were used to treat two human cancer cell lines, Hela and SH-SY5Y (cervical cancer and neuroblastoma cell lines, respectively), detecting an antiproliferative effect soon after 6 h. The filamentous cyanobacterium Oscillatoria spongeliae produces a polybrominated biphenyl ether, when in association with the sponge Dysidea herbacea .…”