title: Biopotentials of marine sponges from China oceans: past and future.
abstract: An extensive literature survey of over 17 Journals was carried out on Chinese sponges and their natural products in the period from 1980 to 2001. This review is thus intended to provide the first thorough overview of research on marine sponges from China Ocean territories. Information is provided about the rather-limited taxonomic study of Chinese marine sponges, with an analysis on their distribution and diversity. Research findings on the natural products and their bioactivity screening from Chinese sponges are summarized. The weaknesses, gaps and problems in the past R&D program of Chinese sponges are identified, which point to the future opportunities in exploiting these huge untapped sponge resources. The report is expected to serve as an entry point for understanding Chinese sponges and for furthering R&D on their bioactive compounds for new drug development.
authors.affiliation: Marine Bioproducts Engineering Group, Biotechnology Division, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China. weizhang@dicp.ac.cn
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Quanyu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xiaoying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jinhe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Meifang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Xinju
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yuan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D001685:Biological Factors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002681:China; D005544:Forecasting; D008386:Marine Biology / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011161:Porifera / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001685:Biological Factors