G. Imsiecke et al., INORGANIC POLYPHOSPHATES IN THE DEVELOPING FRESH-WATER SPONGE EPHYDATIA-MUELLERI - EFFECT OF STRESS BY POLLUTED WATERS, Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 15(8), 1996, pp. 1329-1334
Relatively high amounts of inorganic polyphosphates (approximately 55
mu g of Polyphosphate/g of wet weight) were found in the freshwater sp
onge Ephydatia muelleri, particularly in the gemmules (260 mu g/g). He
re we report that the polyphosphate content of this sponge changes dur
ing development and in response to adverse environmental conditions. G
ermination and hatching of gemmules of E. muelleri is accompanied by a
strong decrease (by 94% at day 2) in polyphosphate level and a rise i
n exopolyphosphatase activity. On the other hand, induction of gemmulo
genesis by theophylline results in an increase (by 61%) in polyphospha
te content of sponge tissue. An increase in polyphosphate content and
a decrease in exopolyphosphatase activity also occur during tissue reg
ression when hatched sponges are exposed to polluted water from river.
Nonionic organic compounds extracted from this water were identified
as contaminants causing a rise in polyphosphate content of E. muelleri
. The results show that measurement of polyphosphate level may be a pr
omising method to detect responses of the freshwater sponge to pollute
d waters.