Researchers at the University of Jordan have identified compounds in deep-sea sponges from the Gulf of Aqaba that inhibit several bacterial strains, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
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The work was led by Mamoon Al-Rshaidat, professor of microbial and molecular ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences and head of the university's Laboratory for Molecular and Microbial Ecology, with Malek Zihlif, professor of molecular pharmacology in the School of Medicine. It draws on the doctoral research of Razan Abuassaf and Fatima Al-Jamal.
Samples were collected in July 2022 during the OceanXplorer Jordan Expedition, using manned submersibles with robotic arms at depths between 140 and 362 metres, where water temperatures ranged from 21.1 to 22.5 degrees Celsius. The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority supported the fieldwork and issued the collection permit.
The samples were preserved in ethanol at low temperature and identified through DNA barcoding, yielding three species: Stelletta, Dactylospongia and Haliclona.
Extract from the Dactylospongia sponge proved the most active, producing inhibition zones of six to 21 millimetres against Gram-positive bacteria, MRSA among them. Liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry detected around 40 bioactive compounds, including gallic acid, caffeic acid, quinones and the marine alkaloid manzamine A.
The team is seeking funding to isolate the most active compounds, determine their molecular structure and mechanism, and assess toxicity and safety, the stages that would establish whether any of them could become a drug.
Researchers are also working on sustainable production. Using genetic and chemical methods to synthesise the compounds would avoid harvesting large quantities of sponges from the seabed, which matters given how little of the Gulf of Aqaba's deep-water biodiversity has been surveyed.
Source: Al-Ghad, citing the University of Jordan
