Proteomic characterization and biological activities of the mucus produced by the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860).

Mucus, produced by Palythoa caribaeorum has been popularly reported due to healing, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects. However, biochemical and pharmacological properties of this mucus remains unexplored. Therefore, the present study aimed to study its proteome profile by 2DE electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF. Furthermore, it was evaluated the cytotoxic, antibacterial, and antioxidant activities of the mucus and from its protein extract (PE). Proteomics study identified14 proteins including proteins involved in the process of tissue regeneration and death of tumor cells. The PE exhibited cell viability below 50% in the MCF-7 and S-180 strains. It showed IC50 of 6.9 µg/mL for the J774 lineage, and also, favored the cellular growth of fibroblasts. Furthermore, PE revealed activity against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis (MIC of 250 µg/mL). These findings revealed the mucus produced by Palythoa caribaeorum with biological activities, offering alternative therapies for the treatment of cancer and as a potential antibacterial agent.

Protective mucus effect of the crude fraction of the mucus produced by the zoanthide Palythoa caribaeorum.

AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate the gastroduodenal protective action of crude fraction extracted from P. caribaeorum mucus in Wistar rats. MAIN METHOD: Initially, phytochemical screening was performed to measure secondary metabolites present in the extract. Subsequently, studies of gastroprotective action in Wistar rats were developed. The animals were randomly divided into six experimental groups: SF0.9% group, misoprostol group, and test groups (200, 100, 10, and 1 mg/kg) that received different doses of the crude fraction of zoanthid mucus (CFZM) diluted in SF0.9%. After 14 days of treatment, acute gastric ulcers were induced by gavage by administering aspirin (200 mg/kg). The stomach and duodenum were removed for histopathological and gene analysis of the mucosa. KEY FINDINGS: The present study found that all investigated metabolites showed negative results. The crude fraction showed a gastric and duodenal protective effect evidenced by an increase in the amount and production of mucins (MUC1 and MUC5AC) and mucus production area in the stomach. Histopathological analysis evidenced a decrease in epithelial damage in the duodenum, with a more significant extension of intestinal villi and a greater amount of goblet cells. SIGNIFICANCE: The crude fraction, extracted from P. caribaeorum, showed gastric and duodenal protective action and is not inert in murine gastroduodenal tissues.

The alien octocoral Carijoa riisei is a biogenic substrate multiplier in artificial Brazilian shipwrecks.

Despite the obvious negative effects caused by invasive species, some recent studies have shown that the impacts at local scale are diverse and not necessarily negative. Arborescent benthic organisms such as octocorals form three-dimensional structures capable of increasing the amount of substrate available and providing shelter for epibiont species. We investigated the role of the alien octocoral Carijoa riisei on the diversity of benthic communities in three shipwrecks on the north-eastern coast of Brazil. We expected that (a) the fauna associated with the octocoral are richer and more diverse compared to the adjacent; (b) some species are exclusively associated with C. riisei; (c) the species that are present both in the areas with and without C. riisei have a greater abundance when associated with the octocoral. For this, we compared the macrobenthic communities associated with C. riisei to those found in adjacent areas where the octocoral was absent. Our study showed that the communities associated with the octocoral were 1.5 times richer and 10 times more abundant than adjacent communities, with 29 exclusive taxa. The dominant taxa were the amphipods Ericthonius brasiliensis and Podocerus brasiliensis and polychaetes of the family Syllidae. These taxa were present in areas with presence and absence of C. riisei, but their abundance was significantly greater where the octocoral was present. Our results reinforce the idea that Carijoa riisei acts as an ecosystem engineer in coastal reefs, creating new habitats and increasing diversity at a local scale, even though it is an alien species.

A new species of Zygophylax (Quelch, 1885) (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from South Africa, with taxonomic notes on the southern African species of the genus.

The genus Zygophylax is a genus of leptothecate hydroids considerably rich in the number of species in the deep sea. In this study we review five species, Z. africana, Z. crozetensis, Z. infundibulum, Z. millardae and Z. geminocarpa, from southern Africa based on available material from several collections, describing and illustrating materials from type series or additional material. Additionally, we describe Zygophylax naomiae sp. nov. collected in South Africa at a depth of 287 m, distinguished from its congeners by the strong pattern of annulations of the pedicels of the hydrotheca and the nematotheca.

Modeling impacts of climate change on the potential habitat of an endangered Brazilian endemic coral: Discussion about deep sea refugia.

Climate and environmental conditions are determinant for coral distribution and their very existence. When changes in such conditions occur, their effects on distribution can be predicted through species distribution models, anticipating suitable habitats for the subsistence of species. Mussismilia harttii is one of the most endangered Brazilian endemic reef-building corals, and in increasing risk of extinction. Herein, species distribution models were used to determine the present and future potential habitats for M. harttii. Estimations were made through the maximum entropy approach, predicting suitable habitat losses and gains by the end of the 21st century. For this purpose, species records published in the last 20 years and current and future environmental variables were correlated. The best models were chosen according to the Akaike information criterion (AIC) and evaluated through the partial ROC (AUCratio), a new approach which uses independent occurrence data. Both approaches showed that the models performed satisfactorily in predicting potential habitat areas for the species. Future projections were made using the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios for 2100, with different levels of greenhouse gas emission. Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) were used to model the Future Potential Habitat (FPH) of M. harttii in two different scenarios: stabilization of emissions (RCP 4.5) and increase of emissions (RCP 8.5). According to the results, shallow waters to the south of the study area concentrate most of the current potential habitats for the species. However, in future scenarios, there was a loss of suitable areas in relation to the Current Potential Habitat (RCP 4.5 46% and RCP 8.5 59%), whereas there is a southward shift of the suitable areas. In all scenarios of FPH, the temperature was the variable with the greatest contribution to the models (> 35%), followed by the current velocity (> 33%) and bathymetry (>29%). In contrast, there is an increase of deep (50-75 m) suitable areas FPH scenarios, mainly in the southern portion of its distribution, at Abrolhos Bank (off Espirito Santo State). These deeper sites might serve as refugia for the species in global warming scenarios. Coral communities at such depths would be less susceptible to impacts of climate change on temperature and salinity. However, the deep sea is not free from human impacts and measures to protect deeper ecosystems should be prioritized in environmental policies for Brazilian marine conservation, especially the Abrolhos Bank, due to its importance for M. harttii.

Zoanthid mucus as new source of useful biologically active proteins.

Palythoa caribaeorum is a very common colonial zoanthid in the coastal reefs of Brazil. It is known for its massive production of mucus, which is traditionally used in folk medicine by fishermen in northeastern Brazil. This study identified biologically active compounds in P. caribaerum mucus. Crude mucus was collected during low tides by the manual scraping of colonies; samples were maintained in an ice bath, homogenized, and centrifuged at 16,000 g for 1 h at 4 °C; the supernatant (mucus) was kept at -80 °C until use. The enzymatic (proteolytic and phospholipase A2), inhibitory (metallo, cysteine and serine proteases), and hemagglutinating (human erythrocyte) activities were determined. The results showed high levels of cysteine and metallo proteases, intermediate levels of phosholipase A2, low levels of trypsin, and no elastase and chymotrypsin like activities. The mucus showed potent inhibitory activity on snake venom metalloproteases and cysteine proteinase papain. In addition, it showed agglutinating activity towards O+, B+, and A+ erythrocyte types. The hemostatic results showed that the mucus prolongs the aPTT and PT, and strongly inhibited platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid, collagen, epinephrine, ADP, and thrombin. The antimicrobial activity was tested on 15 strains of bacteria and fungi through the radial diffusion assay in agar, and no activity was observed. Compounds in P. caribaeorum mucus were analyzed for the first time in this study, and our results show potential pharmacological activities in these compounds, which are relevant for use in physiopathological investigations. However, the demonstration of these activities indicates caution in the use of crude mucus in folk medicine. Furthermore, the present or absent activities identified in this mucus suggest that the studied P. caribaeorum colonies were in thermal stress conditions at the time of sample collection; these conditions may precede the bleaching process in zoanthids. Hence, the use of mucus as an indicator of this process should be evaluated in the future.

The holo-transcriptome of the zoantharian Protopalythoa variabilis (Cnidaria: Anthozoa): a plentiful source of enzymes for potential application in green chemistry, industrial and pharmaceutical biotechnology

Marine invertebrates, such as sponges, tunicates and cnidarians (zoantharians and scleractinian corals), form functional assemblages, known as holobionts, with numerous microbes. This type of species-specific symbiotic association can be a repository of myriad valuable low molecular weight organic compounds, bioactive peptides and enzymes. The zoantharian Protopalythoa variabilis (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) is one such example of a marine holobiont that inhabits the coastal reefs of the tropical Atlantic coast and is an interesting source of secondary metabolites and biologically active polypeptides. In the present study, we analyzed the entire holo-transcriptome of P. variabilis, looking for enzyme precursors expressed in the zoantharian-microbiota assemblage that are potentially useful as industrial biocatalysts and biopharmaceuticals. In addition to hundreds of predicted enzymes that fit into the classes of hydrolases, oxidoreductases and transferases that were found, novel enzyme precursors with multiple activities in single structures and enzymes with incomplete Enzyme Commission numbers were revealed. Our results indicated the predictive expression of thirteen multifunctional enzymes and 694 enzyme sequences with partially characterized activities, distributed in 23 sub-subclasses. These predicted enzyme structures and activities can prospectively be harnessed for applications in diverse areas of industrial and pharmaceutical biotechnology.

The holo-transcriptome of the zoantharian Protopalythoa variabilis (Cnidaria: Anthozoa): a plentiful source of enzymes for potential application in green chemistry, industrial and pharmaceutical biotechnology

Marine invertebrates, such as sponges, tunicates and cnidarians (zoantharians and scleractinian corals), form functional assemblages, known as holobionts, with numerous microbes. This type of species-specific symbiotic association can be a repository of myriad valuable low molecular weight organic compounds, bioactive peptides and enzymes. The zoantharian Protopalythoa variabilis (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) is one such example of a marine holobiont that inhabits the coastal reefs of the tropical Atlantic coast and is an interesting source of secondary metabolites and biologically active polypeptides. In the present study, we analyzed the entire holo-transcriptome of P. variabilis, looking for enzyme precursors expressed in the zoantharian-microbiota assemblage that are potentially useful as industrial biocatalysts and biopharmaceuticals. In addition to hundreds of predicted enzymes that fit into the classes of hydrolases, oxidoreductases and transferases that were found, novel enzyme precursors with multiple activities in single structures and enzymes with incomplete Enzyme Commission numbers were revealed. Our results indicated the predictive expression of thirteen multifunctional enzymes and 694 enzyme sequences with partially characterized activities, distributed in 23 sub-subclasses. These predicted enzyme structures and activities can prospectively be harnessed for applications in diverse areas of industrial and pharmaceutical biotechnology.

Identification of long non-coding RNAs in two anthozoan species and their possible implications for coral bleaching.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play regulatory roles in a diverse range of biological processes and are associated with the outcomes of various diseases. The majority of studies about lncRNAs focus on model organisms, with lessened investigation in non-model organisms to date. Herein, we have undertaken an investigation on lncRNA in two zoanthids (cnidarian): Protolpalythoa varibilis and Palythoa caribaeorum. A total of 11,206 and 13,240 lncRNAs were detected in P. variabilis and P. caribaeorum transcriptome, respectively. Comparison using NONCODE database indicated that the majority of these lncRNAs is taxonomically species-restricted with no identifiable orthologs. Even so, we found cases in which short regions of P. caribaeorum's lncRNAs were similar to vertebrate species' lncRNAs, and could be associated with lncRNA conserved regulatory functions. Consequently, some high-confidence lncRNA-mRNA interactions were predicted based on such conserved regions, therefore revealing possible involvement of lncRNAs in posttranscriptional processing and regulation in anthozoans. Moreover, investigation of differentially expressed lncRNAs, in healthy colonies and colonial individuals undergoing natural bleaching, indicated that some up-regulated lncRNAs in P. caribaeorum could posttranscriptionally regulate the mRNAs encoding proteins of Ras-mediated signal transduction pathway and components of innate immune-system, which could contribute to the molecular response of coral bleaching.

Zygophylax kakaiba, a new species of hydroid (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Zygophylacidae) from the Philippine Islands.

The genus Zygophylax Quelch, 1885 includes ca. 50 valid species of leptothecate hydroids that occur mainly in deep waters. Herein we describe Zygophylax kakaiba, sp. nov., collected in the Philippines at a depth of 580 m during the Siboga Expedition. Compared to its congeners, this species is distinguished by the abrupt curvature of the distal third of its hydrothecae towards the adcauline side.

First record of the fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida, Polychaeta) preying on colonies of the fire coral Millepora alcicornis (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) / Primeiro registro do verme de fogo Hermodice carunculata (Annelida, Polychaeta) predando colônias do coral de fogo Millepora alcicornis (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa)

The polychaete Hermodice carunculata is a voracious predator of several benthic organisms and one of the preferential groups in its diet is that of the cnidarians. This note presents the first record of a fireworm preying on the calcified hydroid Millepora alcicornis. The fireworm engulfs the terminal branches of the fire coral and spends several minutes scraping the surface and removing the soft tissues. Despite this being one of the most common calcified hydroids of the Brazilian northern and northeastern regions (and home to a vast associated community), this kind of association had never been recorded. This discovery points to the need of studying such associations because the damage caused by this polychaete is irreversible and depending on the amount of predators might alter reefs' health or modify the components of the reef community.

O poliqueta Hermodice carunculata é um voraz predador de vários organismos bentônicos e um dos grupos preferenciais na sua dieta é o dos cnidários. No presente trabalho se apresenta o primeiro registro de predação do verme de fogo sobre o hidrocoral Millepora alcicornis. O verme engolfa os ramos terminais do hidrocoral e fica vários minutos raspando a superfície e retirando os tecidos moles. Apesar deste hidrocoral ser um dos representantes mais comuns dos recifes do norte e nordeste brasileiros e de albergar uma vasta comunidade associada, nunca tinha sido registrada esta associação. Esta nova descoberta alerta na necessidade de se estudar esta associação já que geralmente os danos ocasionados pelo poliqueta são irreversíveis e dependendo da quantidade de predadores pode alterar a saúde dos recifes ou modificar os componentes da comunidade recifal.