Chitin-based scaffolds in marine keratose demosponges: Morphology and structure, origin and role
Final Report Abstract
Sponges are probably the earliest branching animals, and their fossil record dates back to the Precambrian. For a long time, chitin was not recognized as an integral part of certain sponge skeletons. The first observations of chitin-based scaffolds in Verongida sponge skeletons were reported recently by our group. The origin of this chitin is, however, not entirely clear since the presence of chitin synthase genes in the genome of the corresponding sponges had not yet been studied. The goal of the present project was the systematic investigation of representative keratose sponge species from the orders Verongida, Dictyoceratida, and Dendroceratida with respect to the presence of chitinous scaffolds in their skeletons. These scaffolds have been characterized by a broad variety of modern bioanalytical and physico-chemical techniques in order to determine their morphology, composition, and structure. We succeeded in discovering a 505-million-year old chitin in the basal demosponge Vauxia gracilenta, and in discovering chitin in freshwater sponges like Spongilla lacustris and Lubomirskia baikalensis. We have also isolated and characterized six new chitin synthase gene fragments from the freshwater sponges studied. The presence of chitin in both marine and freshwater sponges indicates that this important structural biopolymer was already present in their common ancestor. During the project time, we succeed in development of a novel method for the production two or three-dimensional cleaned chitin skeleton for dictyoceratid sponges; and the use thereof for uranium adsorption. Furthermore, for the first time, we proposed sponge chitin as a thermostable template for the development of a new generation of nanostructured biocomposites using “extreme biomimetic conditions” via a hydrothermal synthesis route.
Publications
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(2011) Calcite reinforced silica-silica joints in the biocomposite skeleton of the deep-sea glass sponge. Advanced Functional Materials, 21:3473-3481
Ehrlich H., Brunner E., Simon P., Bazhenov V.V., Botting J.P., Tabachnick K.R., Springer A., Kummer K., Vyalikh D.V., Molodtsov S.L., Kammer M., Worch H., Kovalev A., Gorb S.N., Koutsoukos P, Summers A.
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(2012) Integrative Taxonomy and Molecular Phylogeny of Genus Aplysina (Demospongiae: Verongida) from Mexican Pacific. PLoS ONE 7, e42049
Cruz-Barraza J. A., Carballo J. L., Rocha-Olivares A., Ehrlich H., Hog M.
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(2013) Biomimetic potential of chitin-based composite biomaterials of poriferan origin. In: Biomimetic biomaterials: structure and applications (Ed. A.J. Ruys). Woodhead Publishing, pp. 47-67
Ehrlich H.
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(2013) Discovery of 505-million-year old chitin in the basal demosponge Vauxia gracilenta. Nature Scientific Reports, 3:3497
Ehrlich H., Rigby J.K., Botting J., Tsurkan M., Werner C., Schwille P., Petrasek Z., Pisera A., Simon P., Sivkov V., Vyalikh D., Molodtsov S., Kurek D., Kammer M., Hunoldt S., Born R., Stawski D., Steinhof A., Bazhenov V., Geisler T.
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(2013) Identification and first insights into the structure and biosynthesis of chitin from the freshwater sponge Spongilla lacustris. Journal of Structural Biology, 183(3): 474–483
Ehrlich H., Kaluzhnaya O., Brunner E., Tsurkan M.V., Ereskovsky A., Ilan M., Tabachnick K.R., Bazhenov V.V., Paasch S., Kammer M., Born R., Stelling A., Galli R., Belikov S., Petrova O.V., Sivkov V., Vyalikh D., Hunoldt S., Wörheide G.
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(2014) Chitin and Chitosan in Selected Biomedical Applications. Progress in Polymer Science 39: 1644-1667
Anitha A., Sowmya S., Sudheesh Kumar P.T., Deepthi S., Chennazhi K.P., Ehrlich H., Tsurkan M., Jayakumar R.
