Anti-fouling role of antibiotics produced by marine algae and bryozoans

A GRADIENT of antibacterial activity along fronds of the large brown seaweed Laminaria 1 runs opposite to gradients of density of bryozoans and spirorbid tube worms settled on the fronds 2,3 . Bryozoan colonies attached to a Laminaria frond grow towards the younger region 4 , where antibiotic produc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1977-02, Vol.265 (5596), p.728-729
Main Authors: AL-OGILY, S. M, KNIGHT-JONES, E. W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents - biosynthesis
Bryozoa - metabolism
Bryozoa - physiology
Eukaryota - metabolism
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
multidisciplinary
Phaeophyceae - metabolism
Phaeophyceae - physiology
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects
Tannins
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Summary:A GRADIENT of antibacterial activity along fronds of the large brown seaweed Laminaria 1 runs opposite to gradients of density of bryozoans and spirorbid tube worms settled on the fronds 2,3 . Bryozoan colonies attached to a Laminaria frond grow towards the younger region 4 , where antibiotic production is lowest. It has been suggested that tannins produced by branch tips of Sargassum have an anti-fouling role 5 , but we have seen no other clear evidence of such an effect, although many marine plants and animals remain remarkably free from encrustation by other organisms 6 . We have now found further evidence in several examples of differential settlement by spirorbid worms on algae and by a bryozoan on another species of bryozoan.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/265728a0