Metabolomic Fingerprinting of Salinispora From Atlantic Oceanic Islands

Salinispora (Micromonosporaceae) is an obligate marine bacterium genus consisting of three species that share over 99% 16S rRNA identity. The genome and biosynthetic pathways of the members of this genus have been widely investigated due to their production of species-specific metabolites. However, despite the species’ high genetic similarity, site-specific secondary metabolic gene clusters have been found in Salinispora strains collected at different locations. Therefore, exploring the metabolic expression of Salinispora recovered from different sites may furnish insights into their environmental adaptation or their chemical communication and, further, may lead to the discovery of new natural products. We describe the first occurrence of Salinispora strains in sediments from the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago (a collection of islets in Brazil) in the Atlantic Ocean, and we investigate the metabolic profiles of these strains by employing mass-spectrometry-based metabolomic approaches, including molecular networking from the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking platform. Furthermore, we analyze data from Salinispora strains recovered from sediments from the Madeira Archipelago (Portugal, Macaronesia) in order to provide a wider metabolomic investigation of Salinispora strains from the Atlantic Oceanic islands. Overall, our study evidences a broader geographic influence on the secondary metabolism of Salinispora than was previously proposed. Still, some biosynthetic gene clusters, such as those corresponding to typical chemical signatures of S. arenicola, like saliniketals and rifamycins, are highly conserved among the assessed strains

Pisces, Ophidiiformes, Ophidiidae, <i>Brotula barbata</i> (Bloch & Schneider, 1801): First record off Ceará,northeastern Brazil

Brotula barbata is recorded for the first time from Ceará, northeastern Brazil. The species was previouslyknown in the western Atlantic from North Carolina to southeastern Brazil, but there are some gaps between these regions.A single specimen was collected from a traditional line fishing fleet operating in the Mucuripe Sea, Ceará, during August2007. We noticed a meristic difference between the specimen examined and the information from the literature. Howeverthis difference did not make the identification difficult. The new record of B. barbata fills geographic distribution gaps ofthis species in the western Atlantic

Cytotoxic activity of a dichloromethane extract and fractions obtained from Eudistoma vannamei (Tunicata: Ascidiacea)

This study consists of the bioassay-guided fractionation of the dichloromethane extract from Eudistoma vannamei and the pharmacological characterization of the active fractions. The dried hydromethanolic extract dissolved in aqueous methanol was partitioned with dichloromethane and chromatographed on a silica gel flash column. The anti-proliferative effect was monitored by the MTT assay. Four of the latest fractions, numbered 14 to 17, which held many chemical similarities amongst each other, were found to be the most active. The selected fractions were tested for viability, proliferation and death induction on cultures of HL-60 promycloblastic leukemia cells. The results suggested that the observed cytotoxicity is related to apoptosis induction. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Cytotoxicity of actinomycetes associated with the ascidian Eudistoma vannamei (Millar, 1977), endemic of northeastern coast of Brazil

Previous studies demonstrated that the crude extract of the ascidian Eudistoma vannamei, endemic from northeasttern Brazil, strongly hinders growth of tumor cells in vitro by inducing apoptosis due to tryptophan derivatives, which are commonly found in bacteria. This study presents a bioactivity-guided screening among actinomycetes, associated with E. vannamei, aiming at recognizing active principles with biological relevance. Twenty strains of actinomycetes, designated as EVA 0101 through 0120, were isolated from colonies of E. vannamei among which 11 were selected for cytotoxicity evaluation. The extracts from EVA 0102, 0103, 0106, 0109 and 0113 were the most active, and were further studied for IC50 determination and chemical analysis by ¹H NMR. IC50 values obtained ranged from 3.62 µg mL-1 (for EVA 0109 in leukemia cells) to 84.65 µg/mL (for EVA 0106 in melanoma cells). All active extracts exhibited the same TLC and spectroscopic profiles, suggesting the presence of quinones and other related secondary metabolites. Furthermore, these strains were identified and compared based on their respective 16S rRNA sequences. The results herein identified the five strains as Micromonospora spp. while phylogenetic analysis suggests that they are possibly two different Micromonospora species producing the cytotoxic compounds

Latitudinal patterns of species diversity on South American rocky shores: Local processes lead to contrasting trends in regional and local species diversity

Aim: We evaluated whether patterns of species diversity (α, β and γ) of rocky shore assemblages followed latitudinal gradients (i.e. LDGs) along the South American coasts, and tested hypotheses related to potential processes sustaining or disrupting the expected LDG pattern at various spatial scales. Location: Coasts of South America. Taxon: Macroalgae and sessile/slow-moving macrofauna on intertidal rocky shores. Methods: We evaluated changes in species composition across 143 sites. The degree of replacement and loss of species at different spatial scales (i.e. coasts, regions and sites) were estimated to help distinguish among ecological, historical and evolutionary hypotheses for explaining LDGs. Furthermore, components of diversity and taxonomic distinctness were measured, and variability in these measures was decomposed using analysis of covariance. Finally, we examined relationships between diversity and a suite of environmental and anthropogenic variables to identify potential mechanisms that may be responsible for the reported spatial relationships. Results: Species composition varied with latitude, and this variability was relatively consistent on both coasts. At all spatial scales, replacement of species was the dominant phenomenon (>95%), rather than loss in the total number of species (<5%). LDGs were strongly dependent on the diversity component and the spatial scale: generally, positive for regional β-diversity, negative for α-diversity and site β-diversity. Sea surface temperature (SST) was the variable that best explained patterns of diversity along both coasts (14%–22%), but other regional and local environmental variables associated with river discharges, upwelling, confluence of currents, tides and anthropogenic pressures also accounted for an important portion of variation (5%–14% each). Main conclusions: Species diversity of South American rocky shores followed, with interruptions, LDGs. The trend of those LDGs, however, depended on the scale and metric used to describe diversity. It is proposed that patterns of LDGs at various scales are not the result of a single overarching process but are strongly influenced by local and regional processes. Although the most evident environmental gradient was the decrease in SST towards the south, it was demonstrated that regional and local environmental variables were also important for understanding the increase in regional β-diversity towards the tropics.Fil: Cruz-Motta, Juan J.. Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez; Puerto RicoFil: Miloslavich, Patricia. University of Tasmania; Australia. Universidad Simón Bolívar; VenezuelaFil: Guerra-Castro, Edlin. Unam - Campus Sisal; México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Hernández-Agreda, Alejandra. James Cook University; AustraliaFil: Herrera, Cesar. James Cook University; AustraliaFil: Barros, Francisco. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Navarrete, Sergio A.. Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Sepúlveda, Roger D.. Centro de Ecología y Genética Ambiental SPA (ECOGEN); ChileFil: Glasby, Tim M.. Port Stephens Fisheries Institute; AustraliaFil: Bigatti, Gregorio. Universidad Espíritu Santo; Ecuador. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos; ArgentinaFil: Cardenas-Calle, Maritza. Universidad de Guayaquil; Ecuador. División Ambiental, Bioelite; EcuadorFil: Carneiro, Pedro B. M.. Universidade Estadual do Ceará; BrasilFil: Carranza, Alvar. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Flores, Augusto A. V.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Gil-Kodaka, Patricia. Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina; PerúFil: Gobin, Judith. University of the West Indies; Trinidad y TobagoFil: Gutiérrez, Jorge L.. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Grupo de Investigación y Educación en Temas Ambientales (GrIETA); ArgentinaFil: Klein, Eduardo. Universidad Simón Bolívar; VenezuelaFil: Krull, Marcos. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Lazarus, Juan F.. Universidad del Valle; ColombiaFil: Londoño-Cruz, Edgardo. Universidad del Valle; ColombiaFil: Lotufo, Tito. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Macaya, Erasmo C.. Universidad de Concepción; Chile. Centro FONDAP de Investigaciones en Dinámica de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL); ChileFil: Mora, Camilo. University of Hawaii at Manoa; Estados UnidosFil: Mora, Elba. Universidad de Guayaquil; Ecuador. División Ambiental, Bioelite; EcuadorFil: Palomo, Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Parragué, Mirtala. Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Pellizzari, Franciane. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Retamales, Roberto. Universidad Técnica de Manabí; EcuadorFil: Rocha, Rosana M.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Romero, Leonardo. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Per