title: Antibacterial Activities of Bacteria Isolated from the  Marine Sponges Isodictya compressa and Higginsia  bidentifera Collected from Algoa Bay, South Africa.
abstract: Due to the rise in multi-drug resistant pathogens and other diseases, there is renewed interest in marine sponge endosymbionts as a rich source of natural products (NPs). The South African marine environment is rich in marine biota that remains largely unexplored and may represent an important source for the discovery of novel NPs. We first investigated the bacterial diversity associated with five South African marine sponges, whose microbial populations had not previously been investigated, and select the two sponges (Isodictya compressa and Higginsia bidentifera) with highest species richness to culture bacteria. By employing 33 different growth conditions 415 sponge-associated bacterial isolates were cultured and screened for antibacterial activity. Thirty-five isolates showed antibacterial activity, twelve of which exhibited activity against the multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli 1699, implying that some of the bioactive compounds could be novel. Genome sequencing of two of these isolates confirmed that they harbour uncharacterized biosynthetic pathways that may encode novel chemical structures.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics (IMBM), Department of Biotechnology, University of the Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Road, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa. ry10mat@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Relebohile Matthew
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Matobole
authors.affiliation: Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics (IMBM), Department of Biotechnology, University of the Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Road, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa. vanzyllj@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Leonardo Joaquim
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: van Zyl
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, University Way, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa. Nance@nmmu.ac.za.|South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), Somerset Street, Grahamstown 6139, South Africa. Nance@nmmu.ac.za.
authors.forename: Shirley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parker-Nance
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Road, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa. coleman@uwc.ac.za.
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Davies-Coleman
authors.affiliation: Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics (IMBM), Department of Biotechnology, University of the Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Road, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa. ituffin@uwc.ac.za.
authors.forename: Marla
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trindade
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001483:Base Sequence; D061006:Bays; D044822:Biodiversity; D001688:Biological Products / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects*; D011161:Porifera / Q000382:microbiology*; D013019:South Africa; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001688:Biological Products
keywords: Isodictya compressa;  Higginsia bidentifera;  antimicrobial;  marine sponge;  natural products