Sustainable Use of Marine Resources: Cultivation of Sponges
Among all metazoan phyla, sponges are known to produce the largest number of bioactive compounds, some of them metabolites with human therapeutic value. Therefore, an increasing interest in basic cell biology research up to biochemical engineering can be
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Abstract. Among all metazoan phyla, sponges are known to produce the largest number of bioactive compounds, some of them metabolites with human therapeutic value. Therefore, an increasing interest in basic cell biology research up to biochemical engineering can be observed aiming at the production of sponge metabolites under completely controlled conditions. One major obstacle is the limited availability oflarger quantities of defined sponge material - the so-called supply problem. In this chapter, different approaches used so far for producing sponge biomass by in situ aquaculture as well as some significant progress in the maintenance of sponges in aquaria are reviewed. These approaches are mainly based on old methods for producing commercial bath sponges as well as on experience in maintaining sponges in public aquaria and on the usage of artificial substrates for a natural-like colonization structure. In recent years, great efforts have been made to set up in vitro culture systems for the cultivation of sponge cells. One of the major advantages of cell cultures is the possibility to control and manipulate the cultivation conditions depending on the sponge species and the target metabolite. Up to now, monolayer cultures of dissociated sponge cells have been shown in a few cases to produce the desired product. However, to date, no continuously growing sponge cell line has been established. Organotypic culture systems, which maintain or mimic the natural tissue structure, have been developed in recent years and demonstrate a promising way towards the biotechnology of sponges. Successful attempts to produce sponge metabolites using the three-dimensional growing primmorphs are given. The use of sponge fragments, another three-dimensional approach, has reappeared and has also been successfully used as an in vitro approach as well as for the biotechnological production of boreal sponge tissue.
F. Briimmer, M. Nickel Biologisches Institut, Abteilung Zoologie, Universitat Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany Marine Molecular Biotechnology W.E.G. Muller (Ed.) Sponges (Porifera) © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003
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F. Brummer and M. Nickel
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Introduction Sponges (Porifera) are primitive, multicellular animals. They are sessile, filterfeeding organisms that feed unselectively. They are able to pump notable volumes of water. In shallow waters, they can filter the entire water column in a day by means of their aquiferous system in order to capture organic particles. Because of the efficiency of their aquiferous system, sponges can catch 70 % of suspended bacteria and organic material. This enables them to inhabit even nutrient -poor environments like tropical reef habitats. Sponges are abundant in all seas and can be found from the equator up to the poles. They thrive and prosper at all depths. Up to now 8000 to 15,000 species have been described (Mohn 1984; Barnes et al. 1993; van Soest 1996; Hooper and Van Soest 2002). It is now well established that the Porifera are true animals. Their bas
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