Preliminary studies on the growth in captivity of Spirastrella inconstans (Dendy) collected from the intertidal region of Palk Bay, south-east coast of India

摘要

Marine sponges are rich sources of bioactiveudmetabolites that can be used as lead compounds toudtreat various diseases. Although concerted effortsudresulted in the development of many new bioactiveudcompounds from marine sponges, only very fewudcompounds have reached the clinical trial stage. Oneudof the reasons for this, as cited by many workers is thatudmany of the sponge bioactive metabolites are highlyudtoxic, thus leading to a low therapeutic index. However,udthe second major reason is the ‘supply problem’.udCollection of large quantities of sponge biomass fromudthe wild becomes a pre-requisite for obtaining sufficientudamounts of metabolites from natural populations.udConsequently, the natural populations may not be ableudto sustain such heavy exploitation.