Protein kinases play a critical role in cell regulation and their deregulation is a contributing factor in an increasing list of diseases including cancer. Marine sponges have yielded over 70 novel compounds to date that exhibit significant inhibitory activity towards a range of protein kinases. These compounds, which belong to diverse structural classes, are reviewed herein, and ordered based ...

Marine sponges are potential sources of many unique metabolites, including cytotoxic and anticancer compounds. Natural sponge populations are insufficient or inaccessible for producing commercial quantities of metabolites of interest. This review focuses on methods of producing sponge biomass to overcome supply limitations. Production techniques discussed include aquaculture in the sea, the con...

The recent application of molecular microbial ecology tools to sponge-microbe associations has revealed a glimpse into the biodiversity of these microbial communities, that is considered just 'the tip of the iceberg'. This chapter provides an overview over these new findings with regard to identity, diversity and distribution patterns of sponge-associated microbial consortia. The sponges Aplysi...

Although they are often sidelined as the most ‘primitive’ of multicellular animals, sponges (Porifera) a key witness to early evolution complex life. As prolific filter feeders sea water, also important for marine ecology and could serve bioindicators ocean health pollution. Their unique abilities in biomineralisation, including formation glass spicules at ambient temperature, can inspire moder...

This review covers the recent marine chemical ecology literature for macroalgae, sponges, octocorals and other benthic invertebrates; 332 references are cited.

This review covers the recent marine chemical ecology literature for phytoplankton, macroalgae, sponges and other benthic invertebrates; 249 references are cited.

The diversity and specificity of microbial communities in marine environments is a key aspect of the ecology and evolution of both the eukaryotic hosts and their associated prokaryotes. Marine sponges harbor phylogenetically diverse and complex microbial lineages. Here, we investigated the sponge bacterial community and distribution patterns of microbes in three sympatric intertidal marine demo...

Marine sponges are currently one of the richest sources of pharmacologically active compounds found in the marine environment. These bioactive molecules are often secondary metabolites, whose main function is to enable and/or modulate cellular communication and defense. They are usually produced by functional enzyme clusters in sponges and/or their associated symbiotic microorganisms. Natural p...