Monanchora Arbuscula

While it may seem a breakthrough to isolate even a single, solitary compound from a porifera species, certain species are developing into chemical compound gold mines. To be toxic towards a diversity of organisms such as fish, bacteria, and fungi, sponges require several different compounds. Many of these compounds are consistent throughout taxonomical classification. By an intricate process, chemicals are developed and secreted by sponges into surrounding waters and their surface tissues. When certain organisms approach the "cloud," it proves hazardous to their general well-being. If a fish or other more advanced organism were to attempt to consume the sponge, they would be either poisoned or overwhelmed by a unpleasant taste. Similar to the cloud of "ink" that a giant squid disperses, this is an efficient defense mechanism that has been in operation for millions of years. However, the defense of a squid is visible, and the defense of a sponge is silent, invisible, and toxic.

Monanchora arbuscula (collected of the the coast of Faror da Barrar, Salvador, Brazil) has had several compounds extracted from its tissues in recent years. Basically, two guanidine alkaloids were discovered to be highly bioactive. A guanidine alkaloid is, in the most elementary terms, a strong crystalline base composed of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen with bioactive qualities and derived from plant and animal tissues. The two compounds derived from the tissues of M. arbuscula are Crambescidin 800 and 8b-Hydroxyptilocaulin.

However, since these compounds are components of a complex structure, isolation techniques are involved and elaborate. The following is a synopsis of the procedure utilized in the isolation of Crambescidin 800:

• Fragments of the sponge were stored in methanol.

• The fragments were then extracted.

• When partially evaporated, the remaining solution was extracted with hexane (a solvent used in some thermometers), CCl₄, and n-butanol (alcohol of a gaseous hydrocarbon used as a solvent)

• Reduced pressure evaporated the abstract

• The solid remainder was chromatographed (a process to separate a complex mixture by filtering it through a medium)

• Flash chromatography and silica gel were then used to further isolate the compound

Not only was this compound a bioactive substance, but it also proved that the genus Monanchora was related to the genus Crambe, which also contained Crambescidin compounds within its species.

After the isolationof Crambescidin 800, it was imperative to obtain larger samples of M. arbuscula so that the scientists would have the capacity to conduct more extensive tests. Thus, samples were obtained at Cat Cay Lagoon, off the coast of Belize. Despite a different location, the samples were identical to the Brazilian samples. Such a correlation indicated that the chemical compounds were generated by the sponge and not by specialized environmental factors that existed by chance. While the samples were identical, the more expanded samples enabled the extraction of two additional compounds. Ptilocaulin, one compound isolated, was the exact same compound which had been isolated from a Caribbean sponge, P. spiculifer. However, the other compound, 8b-Hydroxyptilocaulin, obtained through reverse chromatography with Ptilocaulin and nitrate was entirely novel. Its basic molecul structure was similar to that of Ptilocaulin, with fifteen carbon atoms, twenty-five hydrogen atoms, and three nitrogen atoms, but the hydrochloride contained an additional oxygen atom. Subsequently, the molecular structure of 8b-Hydroxyptilocaulin is C₁₅H₂₅N₃O. Since this compound is also similar to the compounds of the Mediterranean species Crambe crambe, there is less distinction between the two genuses of Monanchora and Crambe. Not only is taxonomy less confusng, but the discovery may benefit human beings. Since Crambe species are bioactive and demonstrate anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-cellular, new bio-products may be manufactured as medication.

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At this time, the creators of this page would like to thank Dr. Eduardo Hajdu for his permission to use his copyrighted papers on this subject as research. By our own means, we would never have been able to develop a full understanding of the topic.