Screening of Antibacterial and Anticancer Activity of Soft Corals from Togean Islands, Indonesia

Abstract

Soft corals (Octocorallia, Alcyonaceae) have been reported to possess diverse biological activities and unique structural chemistry. This study aims to screen the potential antibacterial and anticancer activity of some soft corals collected from Togean Islands, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. They were Lobophytum sp, Sarcophyton sp, Sinularia sp 1, and Sinularia sp 2. All dried coral materials were extracted for 3 x 24 h by maceration method using methanol and then evaporated by rotary evaporator to obtain viscous extracts. The determination of antibacterial activity had been performed by well agar diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Meanwhile, the cytotoxic activity was performed by MTT method, followed by apoptosis annexin V-FTIC assay. Identification for the presence of terpenoids was performed by p-anisaldehyde-sulphuric acid spraying reagent on thin layer chromatography (TLC). Sinularia sp 2 extract have strongly inhibited S. aureus and E.coli with the diameter of inhibition of 15.80 mm and 15.73 mm, respectively. Moreover, Sinularia sp 2 extract possessed also cytotoxic activity against human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) and colorectal carcinoma (HCT-116) with the IC50 of 46.807 and 47.186 μg/mL, respectively. Extract Sinularia sp 1 was found to have strongest cytotoxicity on human colon colorectal carcinoma (HCT-116) with the IC50 of < 1.505 μg/mL. Annexin V-FTIC assay clearly exhibited that the apoptosis mechanism is proposed by the extracts of Sinularia sp 1 and Sinularia sp 2. Terpenoids were identified on both extracts suggesting for further purification and isolation for the bioactive terpenoid compounds.

Spatial and Short-Term Temporal Patterns of Octocoral Assemblages in the West Philippine Sea

“…As major macrobenthic components, octocorals play a significant role in coral reef community dynamics and may serve as indicators of water quality in reefs affected by various disturbances including climate change and pollution (Nörstrom et al, 2009;De'ath and Fabricius, 2010;Edmunds and Lasker, 2019). Apart from their ecological importance, octocorals are known to be valuable sources of natural products, which are utilized in the pharmaceutical industry (Zubair et al, 2018). In fact, aquaculture studies in soft corals are currently gaining attention due to their biomedical potential (Sella and Benayahu, 2010).…”