The antimicrobial activity of some marine sponges in turkey

In this research, the samples of sponges were collected from three different diving stations in the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, the Soros Gulf and these samples were respectively identified as, Spongia officinalis, Spongia agaricina and Aplysina aerophoba. The antimicrobial activities of the sponge extracts obtained by methanol extraction against microorganisms were investigated by disc diffusion method. In the study, Bacillus cereus ATCC 7064, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Escherichia coli ATCC 25902, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 122228, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus var. elipticus, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium granulatum, Penicillium rugulosum, Penicillium jenseii, Aspergillus canditus, Geotrichum candidum and Candida albicans ATCC 10239 were used as test microorganisms.According to the survey results, Spongia officinalis, Spongia agaricina, Aplysina aerophoba sponge extracts proved to have antimicrobial activity, in different levels, against the test microorganisms. The most antimicrobial activity against the Gram-positive and the Gram-negative bacteria used in the study was obtained from the extracts of the sponge Aplysina aerophoba. However, it was found out that the extracts from Spongia agaricina had the most antimicrobial activity against the test fungi.Key words: Marine sponges, antimicrobial activity, disc diffusion method, test microorganisms.