Hybrid Soft Corals Could Produce Novel Pharmaceuticals

摘要

The soft corals Sinularia maxima and S. polydactyla contain numerous compounds that have potential for important pharmaceutical activities. The results of a study indicated that cross-fertilization hybridization can occur in about 40% of the encounters between the two species'gametes. Such hybrid "gene shuffling" may represent a unique mechanism to develop new phamaceutical products via aquaculture. Natural hybridization in the marine environment is an important mechanism for the production of biodiversity Mass-spawning marine invertebrates, in particular, have the potential for hybridization when gametes mix in the water column. "Gene shuffling" associated with hybridization can result in a mosaic of phenotypic characteristics expressed in the first and subsequent back-crossed generations that can mediate a variety of ecological interactions.