- The sponges or
poriferans (from Latin porus "pore" and ferre "to bear") are animals of
the phylum Porifera. They are primitive, sessile, mostly marine, water
dwelling, filter feeders that pump water through their bodies to filter
out particles of food matter. Sponges also excrete sperm cells through
these holes. Sponges represent the simplest of animals. With no true
tissues (parazoa), they lack muscles, nerves, and internal
organs.
- Sponges are the most
primitive multicellular animals, and as such, lack many of the typical
features of animals including nerves and locomotion. Because of this
they were placed in the group Parazoa, considered a sister taxon to all
higher animals . However the latest DNA evidence shows that sponges are
basal to all Metazoans. Sponges share many characteristics with colonial
protists, such as Volvox, though they have a higher degree of cell
specialization and interdependence.
- Marine sponges
(Porifera) harbor large amounts of commensal microbial communities
within the sponge mesohyl.Sponges (Porifera) are ancient metazoans
dating back more than 580 million years. They populate tropical and
subtropical benthic marine habitats but are also found at higher
latitudes and even in freshwater lakes and streams. So far an estimated
15,000 species have been described, but the true diversity is probably
much higher .
- Molecular techniques
were employed to document the microbial diversity associated with the
marine sponge Rhopaloeides odorabile. The use of molecular approaches
for describing microbial diversity has greatly enhanced the knowledge of
population structure in natural microbial communities. It is widely
accepted that culture-based techniques are inadequate for studying
bacterial diversity from environmental samples, as many bacteria cannot
be cultured using current and traditional techniques.
- Most medicines come
from natural resources and scientists are still exploring the organisms
of tropical rainforest for potentially valuable medical products. In
terrestrial environment, plants are the richest sources of natural
products. However in marine environment, this leading position is taken
by invertebrates such as sponges, molluscs, bryozoans, tunicates, etc.
They not only produce a great number of marine natural products
currently known but also show the largest chemical diversity of natural
products, in including alkaloids, peptides, terpenes, polyketides,
etc.
- The marine sponges like
dragmacidins, a recently discovered class of alkaloids that perform a
wide range of biological and pharmacological activities.
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Marine Resources
- Discovery of the novel
candidate phylum “Poribacteria” in marine sponges
- Phylogenetic diversity
of bacteria associated with the marine sponge rhopaloeides
odorabile
- Endosymbiotic yeast
maternally transmitted in a Marine Sponge
- Synergy between phorbol
esters, 1-oleyl-2-acetylglycerol, urushiol, and calcium ionophore in
eliciting aggregation of marine sponge cells
- The new sponge
resources of Orissa coast
Sponge
Cultivation
- Sponge
- The Life of a
Sponge
- Cultivation of marine
sponges
- Cultivation of Marine
Sponges: From sea to cell
Synthesis
- Total synthesis of
alkaloids
- Isolation and structure
elucidation of secondary metabolites from marine sponges and a
marine-derived fungus
- The first total
synthesis of Dragmacidin D
- The total synthesis of
(+)-Dragmacidin F
- The total synthesis of
Dragmacidins D and F
- The formal total
synthesis of dragmacidin B, trans-dragmacidin C, and cis- and
trans-dihydrohamacanthins A
Centers involved in
Marine Sponges
- The Astbury Centre for
Structural Molecular Biology
- Bio-Screening Centre
- City of Hope
- Center of Marine Biotechnology
- Center for the Science
and Engineering of Materials
- Center for Marine
Biotechnology and Biomedicine
- Marine Ecology
Center
- Port Townsend Marine
Science Center
Applications
- Gene-to-metabolite
networks for terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthesis in Catharanthus
roseus cells
- Metalated heterocycles
in organic synthesis: recent applications
- Up-regulation of
integrins a3 b1 in sulfate-starved Marine Sponge cells
- Marine natural
products: synthetic aspects
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Consultants
- Richmond Sarpong
- Adam
Nelson
- Carrol Group
- Michele Davis
McGibony
- Neil K. Garg
Patent
- Methods for making
bis-heterocyclic alkaloids
- Anti-neurogenic
inflammatory compounds and compositions and methods of use thereof
- Use for topsentin
compounds and pharmaceutical compositions containing same
- Use of imidazole and
indole compounds as inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase
- Use for
bis-heterocyclic compounds and pharmaceutical compositions containing
same
- Compounds and methods
of use for treatment of neurogenic inflammation
- Method for the
synthesis of soritin compounds
- Synthetic compounds for
treatment of inflammation
Technology
- Bartoli indole
synthesis
- Synthesis of biaryl
molecules by suzuki-miyaura coupling
- Development of an
enantiodivergent strategy for the total synthesis of (+)- and
(-)-Dragmacidin F from a single enantiomer of quinic acid
- Structure elucidation
of bioactive marine natural products using modern methods of
spectroscopy
- A unified synthetic
approach to the pyrazinone dragmacidins
- Recent advances in
enantiodivergent strategies
Market and
Report
- Student searches for
cures in sponges
- Georgia Southern
University market
- Biotechnological
potential of marine sponges
- Marine pharmacology in
1998
- Marine Pharmacology in
2000
- City of Hope 2006
annual report
- Synthetic studies of
marine indole and related systems
Guides
- Marine
Biodiversity
- Sponges: Branches on
the tree of life
- Marine Ed Resource
Guide
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