Abstract. Marzuki I, Ahmad R, Kamaruddin M, Asaf R, Armus R, Siswanty I. 2021. Performance of cultured marine sponges-symbiotic bacteria as a heavy metal bio-adsorption. Biodiversitas 22: 5536-5543. One source of heavy metal waste could be coming from industrial disposal. Contamination and accumulation of hazardous heavy metal waste are most likely to occur in water areas, It has become a global issue that urgently requires appropriate technology to address. Two marine sponge-symbiotic bacteria from the Spermonde islands, Indonesia, i.e., Bacillus cohnii strain DSM 6307 (BS) and Pseudomonas stutzeri RCH2 (PS), were used in this study. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanism of heavy metal bio-adsorption of two sponge symbiotic bacteria by contact technique and are assessed their activity, capacity, and efficiency of bio-adsorption against different heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Ag, and Cd),. The bio-adsorption capacity was evaluated by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) after a predetermined contact time (4, 8, 12, and 16 days). The results demonstrated that two sponge symbiotic bacteria had bio-adsorption activities against eight different heavy metals. BS bacteria exhibited higher bio-adsorption capacity (Cr ? Zn ? Cu ? Fe ? Co ?Mn and Ag ? Cd) than that of PS bacteria (Zn ? Co ? Fe ? Mn ? Cu ? Cr and Cd ? Ag). The difference in the atomic number of heavy metals causes the characteristics of these metals to vary which affects the capacity and efficiency of bio-adsorption of sponge symbiotic bacteria to heavy metals.

Every petroleum-processing plant produces sewage sludge containing several types of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The degradation of PAHs via physical, biological, and chemical methods is not yet efficient. Among biological methods, the use of marine sponge symbiont bacteria is considered an alternative and promising approach in the degradation of and reduction in PAHs. This study aimed to explore the potential performance of a consortium of sponge symbiont bacteria in degrading anthracene and pyrene. Three bacterial species (Bacillus pumilus strain GLB197, Pseudomonas stutzeri strain SLG510A3-8, and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strain SLCDA 976) were mixed to form the consortium. The interaction between the bacterial consortium suspension and PAH components was measured at 5 day intervals for 25 days. The biodegradation performance of bacteria on PAH samples was determined on the basis of five biodegradation parameters. The analysis results showed a decrease in the concentration of anthracene (21.89%) and pyrene (7.71%), equivalent to a ratio of 3:1, followed by a decrease in the abundance of anthracene (60.30%) and pyrene (27.52%), equivalent to a ratio of 2:1. The level of pyrene degradation was lower than that of the anthracene due to fact that pyrene is more toxic and has a more stable molecular structure, which hinders its metabolism by bacterial cells. The products from the biodegradation of the two PAHs are alcohols, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and a small proportion of aromatic hydrocarbon components.

Abstract. Marzuki I, Kamaruddin M, Ahmad R. 2021. Identification of marine sponges-symbiotic bacteria and their application in degrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Biodiversitas 22: 1481-1488. Diverse and abundant microbial species that occupy marine sponges may make important contributions to host metabolism. Sponges are filter feeders and devour microorganisms from the seawater around them. Each microbe that endures the sponges’ digestive and immune responses are related symbiotically. Marine sponges symbiont bacteria can comprise as much as 40% of sponge tissue volume, and these are known to exhibit a great potential on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) degradation. However, the potential use of marine sponges symbiont bacteria is unexplored. Therefore, we designed and conducted a study to identify bacterial isolates obtained from sponges. For this, we collected sponges samples (Hyrtios erectus, Clathria (Thalysias) reinwardti), Niphates sp., and Callyspongia sp.) from the Spermonde islands in Indonesia. We successfully found eight bacterial isolates from four sponges, as molecular identification based on 16S rRNA approach revealed bacterial isolates of SpAB1, SpAB2, SpBB1, SpDB1, and SpDB2 from three sponges (Hyrtios erectus, Clathria (Thalysias) reinwardti), Niphates sp.). Interestingly, these were closely related to Pseudomonas, and a bacterial isolate from Callyspongia sp. (SpCB1) showed similarity to Bacillus. Bacillus and Pseudomonas bacteria isolated from hydrocarbon-contaminated sponges exhibited degradation of naphthalene and pyrene PAHs.

Acetylcholinesterase (AchE) is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of Acetylcholine [Ach] cholinergic synapses in the central and peripheral nervous systems. As a result, AChE inhibitors promote an increase in the concentration and length of Ach synaptic activity. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AchEIs) are currently considered the best therapeutic agents for Alzheimer’s patients. The potential sources of the current AChE inhibitors are predominantly plants. However, some of these drugs are known to have disadvantages such as limited half-life or side-effect such as hepatotoxicity. Marine microorganisms are a potential new source of the enzyme inhibitors. Since their rich and diverse metabolites have a wide range of biological activities, one of them is an actinomycetes of special interest in antibiotics. The purpose of this study was to screen AChE inhibitors from marine-derived actinomycetes using a simple method, thin layer chromatography (TLC). In addition, TLC was used for the determination of solvents for adsorption of actinomycetes AchE inhibitors. The results showed that the combination of chloroform/methanol = 80/20 had the best AchE inhibitor separation performance, while the combination of DCM/methanol = 90/10 should be considered if the gradient elution was selected during the separation process.