Search results for "geodia cydonium"
showing 5 items of 15 documents
Cultural Heritage: Porifera (Sponges), A Taxon Successfully Progressing Paleontology, Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Biomedicine
2004
In 1876, Campbell (Campbell, 1876 [p. 446]) wrote “those beautiful ‘glass-rope sponges’, Hyalonema etc., have been found by our researchers to be ‘the most characteristic inhabitants of the great depths all over the world, and with them ordinary siliceous sponges, some of which rival Hyalospongiae in beauty’ “. The admiration for the beauty of sponges is documented since Aristotle (cited in Camus 1783), however the nature of these organisms and their phylogenetic position remained enigmatic until less than 10 years ago. E.g., in 1988 Loomis (Loomis, 1988 [p. 186]) wrote “the sponge cells are unspecialized flagellates held together by a glycoprotein extracellular matrix... they are multicell…
Molecular evolution of the metazoan protein kinase C multigene family
1996
Protein kinases C (PKCs) comprise closely related Ser/Thr kinases, ubiquitously present in animal tissues ; they respond to second messengers, e.g., Ca2+ and/or diacylglycerol, to express their activities. Two PKCs have been sequenced from Geodia cydonium, a member of the lowest multicellular animals, the sponges (Porifera). One sponge G. cydonium PKC, GCPKC1, belongs to the ''novel'' (Ca2+-independent) PKC (nPKC) subfamily while the second one, GCPKC2, has the hall-marks of the ''conventional'' (Ca2+-dependent) PKC (cPKC) subfamily. The alignment of the Ser/Thr catalytic kinase domains, of the predicted aa sequences for these cDNAs with respective segments from previously reported sequence…
Origin of Insulin Receptor-Like Tyrosine Kinases in Marine Sponges
1999
One autapomorphic character restricted to all Metazoa including Porifera [sponges] is the existence of transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). In this study we screened for molecules from one subfamily within the superfamily of the insulin receptors. The subfamily includes the insulin receptors (InsR), the insulin-like growth factor I receptors, and the InsR-related receptors--all found in vertebrates--as well as the InsR-homolog from Drosophila melanogaster. cDNAs encoding putative InsRs were isolated from the hexactinellid sponge Aphrocallistes vastus, the demosponge Suberites domuncula, and the calcareous sponge Sycon raphanus. Phylogenetic analyses of the catalytic domains of th…
Initiation of an Aquaculture of Sponges for the Sustainable Production of Bioactive Metabolites in Open Systems: Example, Geodia cydonium.
1999
Among Metazoa, sponges (phylum Porifera) are the richest source for different bioactive compounds. The availability of the raw material is, however, restricted. To obtain enough of the bioactive compounds for application in human therapy, sponges have to be cultured in in vitro systems. One technique for the establishment of a long-term cell culture from sponges has recently been elaborated. Here, we present a procedure to cultivate tissue samples from sponges in an open system. The species Geodia cydonium, which produces bioactive compounds, has been selected. Tissue samples of approximately 10 g were attached to the bottoms of cultivation trays. After 2 to 3 days, the tissue samples forme…
The hypothetical ancestral animal the Urmetazoa: Telomerase activity in sponges [Porifera]
2003
Sponges (Porifera) represent the lowest metazoan phylum, characterized by a pronounced plasticity in the determination of cell lineages, and they are the closest related taxon to the hypothetical ancestral animal, the Urmetazoa, from which the metazoan lineages diverged. In a first approach to elucidate the molecular mechanisms controlling the switch from the cell lineage with a putative indefinite growth capacity to senescent, somatic cells, the activity of the telomerase as an indicator for immortality has been determined. The studies were performed with the marine demosponges Suberites domuncula and Geodia cydonium, in vivo with tissue but also in vitro using the primmorph system. Primmo…