AQUACULTURE OF TROPICAL MARINE SPONGES TO YIELD RESEARCH AND COMMERCIAL QUANTITIES FO BIO-ACTIVE SECONDARY METABOLITES

A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AQUACULTURE SYSTEM IS PROPOSED FOR THE CULTURE OF TROPICAL MARINE SPONGES ACANTHELLA CARVENOSA,AND THE YET UNDESCRIBED JASPIS SPECIES "A", ORDER CHORISTIDA. IN ADDITION THE PROPOSAL CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL TECHNIQUES FOR HARVESTING THE HIGH-VALUE SECONDARY METABOLITES PRODUCED BY THESE SPONGES, THE DITERPENE ANTIBIOTICS THE KALIHINOLS (A. CARVENOSA), AND THE ANTIPARASITIC AND ANTIBIOTIC, AMINO ACID-DERIVED BENGAMIDES (JASPIS SP.). THE BENGAMIDES ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION BY A MAJOR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY FOR DEVELOPMENT FOR FUTURE NEW DRUGS, AND PRESENTLY A TOTAL SYNTHESIS EFFORT HAS BEGUN, HOWEVER, ITS COST-EFFECTIVE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS IS SPECULATIVE, LEAVING LARGE OCEAN COLLECTIONS OR AQUACULTURE AS LIKELY ALTERNATIVES FOR SUPPLIES. A PHASE I PROGRAM IS EXPECTED TO YIELD GOOD RESULTS ON CONDITIONS FOR AQUACULTURE, AND THE EFFECTIVENESSOF EMPLOYING INCREASED LIGHT LEVELS AND/OR DELIBERATE PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO INDUCE THE SPONGES TO EXUDE LARGE AMOUNTSOF THESE ALLELOCHEMICALS INTO THE CULTURE CONTAINERS, WHEREAFTER THEY WILL BE RECOVERED BY USE OF A FLOW-THROUGH METABOLITE-SPECIFIC FILTERING APPARATUS. SPONGES AND THEIR EXO-METABOLITES WILL BE CHEMICALLY ANALYZED USING HPLC AND NMR. A PHASE II SYSTEMS ENVISIONS GREENHOUSE COVERED RACEWAYS WITH MUCH SUBMERGED SUBSTRATE FOR SPONGE ATTACHMENT.