SPONGE UMUM DI TERUMBU-TERUMBU KARANG PERAIRAN TAHUNA KAPULAUAN SANGIHE

Sponge makin banyak menarik perhatian para ilmuwan di seluruh dunia bukan karena potensi bioekologisnya saja tetapi juga karena potensi kosmetik dan biomedis dari molekul-molekul bioaktif maupun biomaterial sponge. Sangat disayangkan, pengetahuan tentang diversitas sponge di wilayah dengan biodiversitas tertinggi di dunia seperti Sulawesi Utara dan Wallacea pun masih sangat miskin dengan sebagian informasi diversitas sponge wilayah-wilayah ini tersebar dalam literatur-literatur ilmiah yang sudah usang dan terfragmentasi. Studi ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan taksonomi dasar sponge di Sulawesi Utara khusunya di perairan Tahuna Kepulauan Sangihe sekaligus memberikan gambaran umum tentang distribusi dan potensi farmakologis dari sponges yang umum ditemukan di perairan Tahuna. Menggunakan metode acid digestion dan kombinasi mikroskop cahaya dan Corel Draw, kami mengidentifikasi tujuh spesies umum di terumbu karang Tahuna yaitu Agelas nakamurai, Clathria reindwardtii, Ircinia strobilina, Melophus sarasinorum, Speciospohongia vagabunda dan Xestospongia testudinaria. Selain menyentil tentang molekul-molekul bioaktif, tulisan ini juga secara singkat membahas tentang penyebaran ketujuh jenis sponge itu terutama di kawasan Asia Tenggara, selatan Jepang dan Australia untuk memperlihatkan sebaran sekaligus potensi kandungan bioaktif dan biomaterial dari sumberdaya laut amat berharga tetapi terabaikan dalam berbagai program monitoring dan konservasi terumbu karang di Indonesia ini. Sementara M. sarasinorum, S. vagabunda C. reinwardti, dan X. testudinaria terlihat memiliki distribusi sangat luas di wilayah Indo Pasifik, Agelas nakamurai dan I. strobilina sejauh ini baru dilaporkan di perairan Okinawa, Asia Tenggara dan Wallacea meskipun spesies serupa dari kedua genus itu terdistribusi hampir di seluruh Australia. Artikel ini mewakili laporan pertama tentang diversitas, kandungan molekul dan sebaran geografis sponge umum dari perairan Kabupaten Sangihe. Sponges have attracted considerable attention not only because of their bioecological but also due to cosmetical and medical potentials of bioactive compounds and biomaterials from sponges. Unfortunately, the basic knowledge of this impressive marine invertebrate, even in rich biodiversity region such as North Sulawesi, remains poorly known with such information scattered in old and fragmented literatures. This research aimed to increase the basic taxonomic knowledge and medical potential of seven sponges in Tahuna’s coral reefs Sangihe Islands as an step to encourage monitoring and concervation of this key species in coral reef in Sangihe Islands. Using acid digestion method and combination of light microscope and Corel Draw, we identified seven common species in Tahuna’s coral reefs namely reinwardti, Ircinia strobilina, Melophus sarasinorum, Speciospongia vagabunda and Xestospongia testudinaria. In addition to providing a quick review on the distribution of these species especially in South East Asia, southern Japan and Australia, the authors also touched on bioactive compounds produced by these animal isolated by one of the authors either from Sangihe Island’s sponges or sponges from other locations to give an overview of the bioactive potential and geographical distributions of the impressive but ignored marine resource in coral reefs’ monitoring and conservation programs in Indonesia. While sepecies such as M. sarasinorum, S. vagabunda C. reinwardti, and X. testudinaria seem to well distributed in Indopasific, A. nakamurai and I. strobilina are distributed only in south Japan and Wallacea regions although the sibling species of the two sponges have been well reported throughout Australia. This article represents the first report on biodiversity, distribution and bioactive molecules of sponges from Sangihe Islands.

ASSOCIATION OF SYNALPHEUS (CRUSTACEA, DECAPODA, ALPHEIDAE) WITH THE SPONGES FROM PARQUE MARINO NACIONAL SISTEMA ARRECIFAL VERACRUZANO, SW GULF OF MEXICO

We assessed the association between five Synalpheus shrimp species (Synalpheus brevicarpus, Synalpheus fritzmuelleri, Synalpheus minus, Synalpheus scaphoceris, and Synalpheus towsendi) and five sponges (Amphimedon compressa, Aplysina fistularis, Ircinia fistularis, Ircinia. strobilina, and Sidonops neptuni) from parque marino nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano. Abundance of shrimp in each sponge species collected was noted. The Jaccard index (J) of association was applied to verify this association in six reefs in the park. Further, the correlation between shrimp carapace depth and sponge canal diameter was assessed. The total number of shrimps collected was 102, with the highest number of individuals (n = 62) for S. fritzmuelleri. The highest association was noted between S. towsendi and A. compressa (J = 1), followed by S. fritzmuelleri and I. fistularis (J = 0.88) and S. minus and I. strobilina (J = 0.66). The largest carapace depth (3.40 ± 0.20 mm) was observed for females of S. minus. A positive and significant correlation was noted between shrimp carapace depth and sponge canal diameter (P < 0.001).

Monitoring Bacterial Diversity of the Marine Sponge Ircinia strobilina upon Transfer into Aquaculture

ABSTRACT Marine sponges in the genus Ircinia are known to be good sources of secondary metabolites with biological activities. A major obstacle in the development of sponge-derived metabolites is the difficulty in ensuring an economic, sustainable supply of the metabolites. A promising strategy is the ex situ culture of sponges in closed or semiclosed aquaculture systems. In this study, the marine sponge Ircinia strobilina (order Dictyoceratida: family Irciniidae) was collected from the wild and maintained for a year in a recirculating aquaculture system. Microbiological and molecular community analyses were performed on freshly collected sponges and sponges maintained in aquaculture for 3 months and 9 months. Chemical analyses were performed on wild collected sponges and individuals maintained in aquaculture for 3 months and 1 year. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was used to assess the complexity of and to monitor changes in the microbial communities associated with I. strobilina. Culture-based and molecular techniques showed an increase in the Bacteroidetes and Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria components of the bacterial community in aquaculture. Populations affiliated with Beta- and Deltaproteobacteria, Clostridia, and Planctomycetes emerged in sponges maintained in aquaculture. The diversity of bacterial communities increased upon transfer into aquaculture.

Esponjas (Porifera, Demospongiae) da plataforma continental ao largo do Estado do Amapá, Brasil

As amostras foram coletadas com draga retangular ao largo da costa (04º13'00" -02º34'02" N, 47º54'05" -50º50'07" W), pela Comissão Pesca Norte I, em 1968, através da Diretoria de Hidrografia e Navegação da Marinha do Brasil com o N./Oc. " Almirante Saldanha" em profundidades que variaram de 56 a 95 m. Oito espécies são aqui registradas, entre as quais Niphates alba Van Soest, 1980, Placospongia melobesioides Gray, 1867 e Terpios belindae Rützler & Smith, 1993 são identificadas pela primeira vez para a costa brasileira. As demais espécies, Aplysina fulva (Pallas, 1766), Ircinia strobilina (Lamarck, 1816), Niphates erecta (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864), Neopetrosia proxima (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) e Plakinastrella onkodes Uliczka, 1929 são conhecidas pela primeira vez para a área estudada. Todas as espécies identificadas são também registradas para o Caribe. Os espécimes encontram-se depositados na Coleção de Porifera do Museu de Ciências Naturais, Fundação Zoobotânica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil.

Genomic Analysis of Bacteriophage ΦJL001: Insights into Its Interaction with a Sponge-Associated Alpha-Proteobacterium

ABSTRACT Bacteriophage ΦJL001 infects a novel marine bacterium in the α subclass of the Proteobacteria isolated from the marine sponge Ircinia strobilina. ΦJL001 is a siphovirus and forms turbid plaques on its host. The genome sequence of ΦJL001 was determined in order to better understand the interaction between the marine phage and its sponge-associated host bacterium. The complete genome sequence of ΦJL001 comprised 63,469 bp with an overall G+C content of 62%. The genome has 91 predicted open reading frames (ORFs), and 17 ORFs have been assigned putative functions. ΦJL001 appears to be a temperate phage, and the integrase gene was identified in the genome. DNA hybridization analysis showed that the ΦJL001 genome does not integrate into the host chromosome under the conditions tested. DNA hybridization experiments therefore suggested that ΦJL001 has some pseudolysogenic characteristics. The genome of ΦJL001 contains many putative genes involved in phage DNA replication (e.g., helicase, DNA polymerase, and thymidylate synthase genes) and also contains a putative integrase gene associated with the lysogenic cycle. Phylogeny based on DNA polymerase gene sequences indicates that ΦJL001 is related to a group of siphoviruses that infect mycobacteria. Designation of ΦJL001 as a siphovirus is consistent with the morphology of the phage visualized by transmission electron microscopy. The unique marine phage-host system described here provides a model system for studying the role of phages in sponge microbial communities.