Blue Biotechnology

Agneya Bhushan, Eike E. Peters, Jörn Piel

Marine sponges belong to the oldest animals existing today. Apart from their role in recycling of carbon and nitrogen in the ocean, they are also an important source of a wide variety of structurally diverse bioactive natural products. Over the past few decades, a multitude of compounds from sponges have been discovered exhibiting diverse, pharmacologically promising activities. However, in many cases the low substance quantities present in the sponge tissue would require the collection of large amounts of sponge material, thus impeding further drug development. Recent research has focused on understanding natural product biosynthesis in sponges and on investigating symbiotic bacteria as possible production sources in order to develop sustainable production systems. This chapter covers research efforts that have taken place over the past few years involving the identification of 'Entotheonella' symbionts responsible for production of sponge compounds, as well as the elucidation of their biosynthetic routes, highlighting future biotechnological applications.