Antimicrobial activities of Antarctic sponges

Abstract

Methanol-toluene extracts of 17 common Antarctic marine sponges collected from shallow waters in McMurdo Sound in October-December 1989 were tested for suppression of growth of bacteria (gram-positive and negative), yeasts and fungi. Weak to moderate levels of antimicrobial activity occurred in all sponges. Antimicrobial activity was more common when gram-negative bacteria were exposed to sponge extracts; 47% of the sponge extracts caused growthinhibition inone or more gram-positive bacteria, while 100% of the extracts caused growth inhibition in gram-negative bacteria. Particularly strong activity was observed against two species of gram-positive bacteria exposed to extracts of the sponge Latrunculia apicalis and against one strain of gram-negative bacterium exposed to extracts of the sponge Haliclona sp. Antimicrobial responses against yeasts and fungi were generally non-existent or weak, with the exception of the yeast Candida tropicalis, which was strongly inhibited by extracts of the sponges Homaxonella bayourensis, Dendrilla membranosa, Kirkpatrickia variolosa, Gellius benedeni, Cinachyra antarctica and Scolymastia joubinia. Antimicrobial activity in these polar sponges is widespread but generally weaker than that found in temperate and tropical sponges.

Biological Activities of Ethanolic Extracts from Deep-Sea Antarctic Marine Sponges

“…Our data are generally in line with those obtained by McClintock and Gauthier [20], who screened non-polar extracts of 17 Antarctic sponges for inhibitory activities against bacteria and fungi. They showed particularly strong inhibitory activities associated with extracts from the sponge species belonging to the genera Latrunculia and Haliclona .…”

“…Sponges are known to contain a high number of compounds that act against terrestrial pathogenic bacteria, while considerably lower activities have been observed against marine bacteria [18]. Furthermore, in comparison with sponges found in temperate and tropical seas, Antarctic sponges have been reported to have a smaller number of antimicrobial secondary metabolites [19] that show generally weaker activities [20]. Previous screenings of crude extracts from 93 Arctic sponges against bacteria and fungi associated with opportunistic infections showed that about 10% of the sponges yielded significant antimicrobial activities, with IC 50 values from 0.2 to 5 μg/mL [5].…”

“…These data should be borne in mind when screening tests are performed using strains that are solely from nonclinical environments. Weak antimicrobial activities of extracts from sponges belonging to the Antarctic genera of Isodictya have also been reported [20,29]. Moreover, a P. aeruginosa strain that is associated with this sponge was shown to have alkaloids that can inhibit the growth of Gram-positive bacteria [30].…”

Screening for antibacterial and antifungal activities in marine benthic invertebrates from northern Norway

“…P. invaginata collected from Antarctica, has been shown to inhibit both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria (McClintock and Gauthier, 1992). A steroid/amino acid conjugate, Polymastiamide A, isolated from the Norwegian sponge, P. boletiformis, was found to be active against various human pathogens including S. aureus and C. albicans (Kong and Anderssen, 1993).…”

Trade-Offs in Defensive Metabolite Production But Not Ecological Function in Healthy and Diseased Sponges

“…Antimicrobial Assays In addition to predator deterrence, many secondary metabolites have antimicrobial activities, and in sponges, this is probably the major source of pathogen immunity (McClintock and Gauthier, 1992;Newbold et al, 1999). Disk diffusion assays were used to test the presence of antibacterial activity in the organic extracts of healthy and ARBS-affected sponges, and pure compounds of A. cauliformis, against a panel of 8 bacteria.…”