title: Progress towards a controlled culture of the marine sponge Pseudosuberites andrewsi in a bioreactor.
abstract: Explants of the tropical sponge Pseudosuberites andrewsi were fed with the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornotum. The food was supplied either as intact algae or as a filtered crude extract. Growth (measured as an increase in underwater weight) was found in both experiments. The explants fed with intact algae increased to an average underwater weight of 255% of the initial weight in 45-60 days. The explants fed with crude extract increased to an average of 200% of the initial weight in 30 days. These results show that it is possible to grow a sponge using a single microorganism species as a food source. In addition, it was demonstrated that sponges are also capable of growing on non-particulate food. Therefore, this study is an important step forward towards the development of controlled, in vivo sponge cultures.
authors.affiliation: Food and Bioprocess Engineering Group, Department of Food Science and Technology, Wageningen Agricultural University, PO Box 8129, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands. ronald.osinga@algemeen.pk.wau.nl
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Osinga
authors.forename: El Hassan
authors.initials: el H
authors.lastname: Belarbi
authors.forename: Emilio Molina
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Grima
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tramper
authors.forename: René H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Wijffels
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D019149:Bioreactors; D002457:Cell Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003470:Culture Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D017377:Diatoms; D005502:Food; D008386:Marine Biology / Q000379:methods; D011161:Porifera / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D012623:Seawater; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D002457:Cell Extracts; D003470:Culture Media