Culture systems influence the physiological performance of the soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum

There is an urgent need to develop means of ex situ biobanking and biopreserving corals and other marine organisms whose habitats have been compromised by climate change and other anthropogenic stressors. To optimize laboratory growth of soft corals in a way that could also benefit industry (e.g., aquarium trade), three culture systems were tested herein with Sarcophyton glaucum: (1) a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) without exogenous biological input (RAS−B), (2) a RAS with “live” rocks and an exogenous food supply (RAS+B), and (3) a simple flow-through system (FTS) featuring partially filtered natural seawater. In each system, the effects of two levels of photosynthetically active radiation (100 or 200 μmol quanta m−2 s−1) and flow velocity (5 or 15 cm s−1) were assessed, and a number of soft coral response variables were measured. All cultured corals survived the multi-month incubation, yet those of the RAS−B grew slowly and even paled; however, once they were fed (RAS−B modified to RAS+B), their pigmentation increased, and their oral discs readily expanded. Light had a more pronounced effect in the RAS−B system, while flow affected certain coral response variables in the FTS tanks; there were few effects of light or flow in the RAS+B system, potentially highlighting the importance of heterotrophy. Unlike the ceramic pedestals of the FTS, those of the RAS+B did not regularly become biofouled by algae. In concert with the aforementioned physiological findings, we therefore recommend RAS+B systems as a superior means of biopreservating and biobanking soft corals.

النشاط التآزري المضاد للتكاثر لمزيج دوكسوروبيسين مع التربينويدات المعزولة من Sarcophyton glaucum

الدوكسوروبيسين، ناتج أيضي من Streptomyces، ويستخدم كدواء مضاد للسرطان والمعروف بفعاليته للعديد من الأورام الصلبة. تم تقييم السمية الخلوية للدوكسوروبيسين وخمسة تربينويد، والتي تم عزلها من Sarcophyton glaucum. وتم تنفيذ ذلك عن طريق استخدام فحوصات SRB. كما تم استخدام مقياس التدفق الخلوي للكشف عن موت الخلايا المبرمج للمركبات المعزولة (1-5). ويمكن أن يعزى النشاط المضاد للتكاثر للنواتج الأيضية المستخدمة إلى قدرتها على تعزيز موت الخلايا المبرمج. كما تم استخدام مؤشر الجمع (CI) لتقييم تأثير التآزر. أعطت الحضانة مع الكواشف معًا عند 1/4 و1/2 من جرعة IC50 من الأيزوبرينويدات وتركيزات مختلفة من دوكسوروبيسين انخفاضًا كبيرًا في قيم IC50 في خلايا سرطان الثدي في مؤسسة ميتشيغان للسرطان (MCF-7).

Sarcoglaucins A-I, new antifouling cembrane-type diterpenes from the South China Sea soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum

Nine new cembrane diterpenes, named sarcoglaucins A-I (1–9) along with three known analogues, trochelioid (10), 7α-hydroxy-Δ8(19)-deepoxysarcophine (11), and (−)-sartrochine (12), were isolated from the soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum collected at Xisha Islands in the South China Sea.