Anatomical and ultrastructural studies of chemical defence in the sponge Dysidea fragilis

The marine sponge Dysidea fragilis from El Mar Menor, a hypersaline coastal lagoon (Murcia, Spain), contains the furanosesquiterpenoid ent-furodysinin as the major secondary metabolite. D. fragilis emits a defensive white fluid when it is disturbed. Electron micrographs of this fluid revealed intact vesiculated cells together with other amorphous material. Dissociated cells are more rounded in shape but maintain the same ultrastructural features as cells observed in ultrathin sections of the whole sponge. The defensive secretion is composed mainly of sponge cells with abundant light vesicles. Sometimes these light vesicles appear to open into the intercellular space; this correlates with surface blebs on these cells observed under scanning electron microscopy. The intracellular location of ent-furodysinin was confirmed by Erlich staining. In laboratory assays, we examined the role of ent-furodysinin as a feeding deterrent to generalist fish predators. It was isolated from D. fragilis and incorporated into a carrageenan-based artificial diet. The addition of ent-furodysinin to the artificial diet reduced feeding by the fish Thalassoma pave. Similarly, fish did not feed on artificial diet above which defensive secretion of D. fragilis had been ejected with a small syringe.

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Marin A. Lopez D. Esteban M.A. Meseguer J. Munoz J. y Fontana A. Anatomical and ultrastructural studies of chemical defence in the sponge Dysidea fragilis. Springer Nature, 1998. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002270050356

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Resource type Article
Date of creation 2024-11-05
Date of last revision 2025-01-19
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Metadata identifier f9945fcc-31d4-530c-80f1-71bfe5fe1a90
Metadata language Spanish
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High-value dataset category Earth observation and environment
ISO 19115 topic category biota
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Name of the dataset creator Marin, A., Lopez, D., Esteban, M.A., Meseguer, J., Munoz, J. y Fontana, A.
Name of the dataset editor Springer Nature
Other identifier DOI: 10.1007/s002270050356
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Email of the dataset creator arnaldo@um.es
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