Abstract
Extracts of 39 species of Caribbean gorgonians were tested for antimicrobial activity against 15 strains of marine bacteria. The bacteria consisted of three opportunistic pathogens, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Leucothrix mucor, and Aerococcus viridans, and 12 strains isolated from either healthy or decayed gorgonians. Overall, only 15% (79 out of 544) of the tests resulted in antibacterial activity with 33% (13 out of 39) of the gorgonians inhibiting only one bacterial strain and 23% (9 out of 39) showing no activity. The extracts of four Pseudopterogorgia species showed relatively high levels of activity, inhibiting 43 to 86% of the bacterial strains. The potency of the active Pseudopterogorgia species was variable, however, and three additional Pseudopterogorgia species were inactive against all bacterial strains. With the exception of one sensitive strain, Vibrio species were resistant to gorgonian metabolites. Our results indicate that organic extracts of most Caribbean gorgonians do not possess potent, broad-spectrum antibacterial activity inhibitory to the growth of opportunistic marine pathogens and bacteria associated with healthy and decayed gorgonian surfaces. These findings suggest that the inhibition of bacterial growth is not the primary ecological function of gorgonian secondary metabolites and that bacteria may not be important selective agents in the evolution of gorgonian secondary chemistry.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amade P, Charroin C, Baby C, Vacelet J (1987) Antimicrobial activities of marine sponges from the Mediterranean Sea. Mar Biol 94: 271–275
Bandurraga MM, Fenical W (1985) Isolation of the muricins. Evidence of a chemical adaptation against fouling in the marine octocoral Muricea fruticosa (Gorgonacea). Tetrahedron 41: 1057–1065
Barry AI (1980) Procedures and theoretical considerations for testing antimicrobial agents in agar media. In: Lorian V (ed) Antibiotics in laboratory medicine. William & Wilkins, Baltimore, Md, pp 1–16
Bell W, Mitchell R (1972) Chemotactic and growth responses of marine bacteria to algal extracellular products. Biol Bull mar biol Lab, Woods Hole 143: 265–277
Berquist PR, Bedford JJ (1978) The incidence of antibacterial activity in marine Demospongiae; systematic and geographic considerations. Mar Biol 46: 215–221
Bryan PJ, Rittschof D, McClintock JB (1996) Bioactivity of echinoderm ethanolic body-wall extracts: an assessment of marine bacterial attachment and macroinvertebrate larval settlement. J exp mar Biol Ecol (in press)
Buck JD (1974) Effect of medium composition on the recovery of bacteria from sea water. J exp mar Biol Ecol 15: 25–34
Burkholder PR (1973) The ecology of marine antibiotics and coral reefs. In: Jones OA, Endean R (eds) Biology and geology of coral reefs. Vol. II. Biology. Academic Press, New York, pp 117–176
Burkholder PR, Burkholder LM (1958) Antimicrobial activity of horny corals. Science, NY 127: 1174–1175
Burkholder PR, Ruetzler K (1969) Antimicrobial activity of some marine sponges. Nature, Lond 222: 983–984
Chet I, Asketh P, Mitchell R (1975) Repulsion of bacteria from marine surfaces. Appl Microbiol 30: 1043–1045
Ciereszko LS, Guillard RRL (1989) The incidence of some cembranolides from gorgonian corals on motility of marine flagellates. J exp mar Biol Ecol 127: 205–210
Coll JC (1992) The chemistry and chemical ecology of octocorals (Coelenterata, Anthozoa, Octocorallia). Chem Rev 92: 613–631
Costerton JW, Ingram JM, Cheng KJ (1974) Structure and function of the cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria. Bact Rev 38: 87–110
Creasy LL (1985) Biochemical responses of plants to fungal attack. In: Cooper-Driver G, Swain AT, Conn EE (eds). Chemically mediated interactions between plants and other organisms. Plenum Press, New York, pp 47–80
Ducklow HW, Mitchell R (1979) Bacterial populations and adaptations in the mucus layers on living corals. Limnol Oceanogr 24: 715–725
Faulkner DJ (1994) Marine natural products. Nat Product Rep 11: 355–395
Fenical W, Pawlik JR (1991) Defensive properties of secondary metabolites from the Caribbean gorgonian coral, Erythropodium caribaeorum. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 75: 1–8
Gerhart DJ, Rittschof D, Mayo SW (1988) Chemical ecology and the search for marine antifoulants. Studies of a predator-prey symbiosis. J chem Ecol 14: 1905–1917
Harvell CD, Fenical W (1989) Chemical and structural defenses of Caribbean gorgonians (Pseudopterogorgia spp.). II. Intracolony localization of defense. Limnol Oceanogr 34: 382–389
Harvell CD, Fenical W, Greene CH (1988) Chemical and structural defenses of Caribbean gorgonians (Pseudopterogorgia spp.). I. Development of an in situ feeding assay. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 49: 287–294
Harvell CD, Fenical W, Porcile P (1996) Chemical defenses of a West Indian gorgonian (Briareum asbestinum) against vertebrate, invertebrate, and microbial consumers. Mar Ecol Prog Ser (in press)
Kim K (1994) Antimicrobial activity in gorgonian corals (Coelenterata; Octocorallia). Coral Reefs 13: 75–80
Kogure K, Simidu U, Taga N (1982) Chemotactic response of marine bacteria to Skeletonema costatum. Bull Jap Soc scient Fish 48: 185–188
Levin DA (1976) The chemical defenses of plants to herbivores and pathogens. A Rev Ecol Syst 7: 121–159
McCaffrey EJ, Endean R (1985) Antimicrobial activity of tropical and subtropical sponges. Mar Biol 89: 1–8
Pawlik JR (1992) Chemical ecology of the settlement of benthic marine invertebrates. Oceanogr mar Biol A Rev 30: 273–335
Pawlik JR (1993) Marine invertebrate chemical defenses. Chem Rev 93: 1911–1992
Pawlik JR, Burch MT, Fenical W (1987) Patterns of chemical defense among Caribbean gorgonian corals: a preliminary survey. J exp mar Biol Ecol 108: 55–60
Rinehart KL et al. (25 co-authors) (1981) Marine natural products as sources of antiviral, antimicrobial, and antineoplastic agents. Pure appl Chem 53: 795–817
Rittschof D, Hooper IR, Branscomb ES, Costlow JD (1985) Inhibition of barnacle settlement and behavior by natural products from whip corals, Leptogorgia virgulata (Lamarck, 1815). J chem Ecol 11: 551–563
Sokal RR, Rohlf FL (1981) Biometry. The principles and practice of statistics in biological research. 2nd edn. W.H. Freeman & Co, New York
Sparks AK (1985) Synopsis of invertebrate pathology, exclusive of insects. Elsevien, New York
Standing JD, Hooper IR, Costlow JD (1984) Inhibition and induction of barnacle settlement by natural products present in octocorals. J chem Ecol 10: 823–834
Targett NM (1988) Allelochemistry in marine organisms: chemical forling and antifouling strategies. In: Thompson MF, Sarojini R, Nagabhushanam R (eds) Marine biodeterioration, advanced techniques applicable to the Indian Ocean. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi, pp 609–617
Targett NM, Bishop SS, McConnell OJ, Yoder JA (1983) Antifouling agents against the benthic diatom, Navicola salinicola. J chem Ecol 9: 817–829
Thompson JE, Walker RP, Faulkner DJ (1985). Screening and bioassays for biologically-active substances from forty marine sponge species from San Diego, California, USA. Mar Biol 88: 11–21
Van Alstyne KL, Paul VJ (1992) Chemical and structural defenses in the sea fan Gorgonia ventalina: effects against generalist and specialist predators. Coral Reefs 11: 155–159
Wahl M, Jensen PR, Fenical W (1994) Chemical control of bacterial epibiosis on ascidians. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 110: 45–57
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by M.F. Strathmann, Friday Harbor
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jensen, P.R., Harvell, C.D., Wirtz, K. et al. Antimicrobial activity of extracts of Caribbean gorgonian corals. Marine Biology 125, 411–419 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346321
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346321