Sponges of the New Caledonian lagoon - IRD

64
Sponges
of the New
Caledonian
Lagoon
organisms precludes large-scale collections. Consequently, the need to supply
compounds of interest in order to continue testing and development of potential
pharmaceutical products has led to research into other modes of sponge biomass
production. Mariculture techniques, essential to the development of a marine natural
product industry, are being evolved with molecular genetic manipulations and
cell culture development remaining options for the future.
It is central to much research on marine chemistry to establish whether the sponge,
its symbionts or both are responsible for synthesis of the metabolites of interest. Once
again this area of research is developing qUickly and has led to many ultrastructural
and fractionation studies of sponge cells and their microflora. Recent evidence
suggests that in many cases, it is sponge cells themselves which are responsible for
the synthesis of the novel compounds. Some sponges have massive concentrations
of cyanobacteria and other microorganisms in their tissue and in some, metabolites of
algal origin coexist with compounds synthesised by the sponge.
It is important to stress that the success of any research into marine natural product
chemistry, chemical ecology or biogeography and biodiversity assessment relies
on credible biosystematics. Accurate identifications and descriptions of species are
essential to all disciplines.