''Discodermia '' is a genus of deep-water
sea sponge
Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and are o ...
.
Species
The following species are accepted within ''Discodermia'':
* ''
Discodermia adhaerens''
Van Soest, Meesters & Becking, 2014
* ''
Discodermia arbor''
Carvalho & Xavier, 2020
* ''
Discodermia aspera''
Carter, 1880
* ''
Discodermia calyx''
Döderlein, 1884
* ''
Discodermia claviformis''
Kieschnick, 1896
* ''
Discodermia discifera''
(Lendenfeld, 1907)
* ''
Discodermia discifurca''
Sollas, 1888
* ''
Discodermia dissoluta
''Discodermia dissoluta'' is a species of deep-water sea sponge found in the Eastern, Southern, and Southwestern Caribbean, as well as in the Greater Antilles. This sponge is of particular interest to bio and organic chemists due to its product ...
''
Schmidt, 1880
* ''
Discodermia dubia''
Vacelet & Vasseur, 1971
* ''
Discodermia emarginata''
Dendy, 1905
* ''
Discodermia gorgonoides''
Burton, 1928
* ''
Discodermia inscripta''
(Schmidt, 1879)
* ''
Discodermia interspersa''
Kumar, 1925
* ''
Discodermia irregularis''
Hoshino, 1976
* ''
Discodermia japonica''
Döderlein, 1884
* ''
Discodermia jogashima''
Tanita & Hoshino, 1989
* ''
Discodermia kellyae''
Carvalho & Xavier, 2020
* ''
Discodermia kiiensis''
Hoshino, 1977
* ''
Discodermia koreana''
Sim, 1982
* ''
Discodermia laevidiscus''
Carter, 1880
* ''
Discodermia natalensis''
Kirkpatrick, 1903
* ''
Discodermia ornata''
Sollas, 1888
* ''
Discodermia panoplia''
Sollas, 1888
* ''
Discodermia papillata''
Carter, 1880
* ''
Discodermia polydiscus''
(Bowerbank, 1869)
* ''
Discodermia polymorpha''
Pisera & Vacelet, 2011
* ''
Discodermia proliferans''
Lévi & Lévi, 1983
* ''
Discodermia ramifera''
Topsent, 1892
* ''
Discodermia sinuosa''
Carter, 1881
* ''
Discodermia stylifera''
Keller, 1891
* ''
Discodermia tuberosa''
Dendy, 1922
* ''
Discodermia vermicularis''
Döderlein, 1884
* ''
Discodermia verrucosa''
Topsent, 1928
Pharmacology
Discodermins B-D
''D. dissoluta'' is of interest to bio and organic chemists because it produces
(+)-discodermolide, a
polyketide
In organic chemistry, polyketides are a class of natural products derived from a Precursor (chemistry), precursor molecule consisting of a Polymer backbone, chain of alternating ketone (, or Carbonyl reduction, its reduced forms) and Methylene gro ...
natural product
A natural product is a natural compound or substance produced by a living organism—that is, found in nature. In the broadest sense, natural products include any substance produced by life. Natural products can also be prepared by chemical s ...
with
immunosuppressive
Immunosuppression is a reduction of the activation or efficacy of the immune system. Some portions of the immune system itself have immunosuppressive effects on other parts of the immune system, and immunosuppression may occur as an adverse react ...
and cancer killing properties.
Antimicrobial
An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth (bacteriostatic agent). Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they are used to treat. For example, antibiotics are used aga ...
/anticancer peptides called discodermins have been isolated from ''D. kiiensis''.
References
Tetractinellida
Sponges described in 1869
Sponge genera
{{Demosponge-stub