Discodermia
{{Short description|Genus of sponges}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Discodermia ramifera (10.7717-peerj.8703) Figure 2 (cropped).png
| image_caption = Discodermia ramifera
| taxon = Discodermia
| authority = du Bocage, 1869{{cite WoRMS |title=Discodermia |id=132089 |access-date=12 Sep 2020}}
| synonyms =
- Collinella Schmidt, 1879
- Desmahabana Alcolado & Gotera, 1986
}}
Discodermia is a genus of deep-water sea sponge.{{cite journal|vauthors=Brück WM, Sennett SH, Pomponi SA, Willenz P, McCarthy PJ|year=2008|title=Identification of the bacterial symbiont Entotheonella sp. in the mesohyl of the marine sponge Discodermia sp.|url=http://fau.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fau%3A5984|journal=The ISME Journal|volume=2|issue=3|pages=335–339|doi=10.1038/ismej.2007.91|pmid=18256706|doi-access=free|bibcode=2008ISMEJ...2..335B }}
Species
The following species are accepted within Discodermia:
{{div col begin|colwidth=30em}}
- 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 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
{{div col end}}
Pharmacology
D. dissoluta is of interest to bio and organic chemists because it produces (+)-discodermolide, a polyketide natural product with immunosuppressive and cancer killing properties.{{cite journal|vauthors=Singh R, Sharma M, Joshi P, Rawat DS|year=2008|title=Clinical status of anti-cancer agents derived from marine sources|journal=Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry|volume=8|issue=6|pages=603–617|doi=10.2174/187152008785133074|pmid=18690825}}
Antimicrobial/anticancer peptides called discodermins have been isolated from D. kiiensis.{{cite journal|pmid=20065108|year=2010|last1=Otero-González|first1=AJ|last2=Magalhaes|first2=BS|last3=Garcia-Villarino|first3=M|last4=Lopez-Abarrategui| first4=C |last5=Sousa |first5=DA |last6=Dias |first6=SC |last7=Franco |first7=OL |title=Antimicrobial peptides from marine invertebrates as a new frontier for microbial infection control|volume=24|issue=5|pages=1320–34|doi=10.1096/fj.09-143388|journal=FASEB Journal|doi-access=free |s2cid=23976702}}