Investigation of bioactivity of extracts from Moroccan solitary tunicate Cynthia savignyi

Extracts of the tunicate Cynthia savignyi from the Moroccan Atlantic sea ha ve been investigated in five bioassays. The first is an antibacterial test against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Agrobacterium tumefaciens; the second is an antifungal test against three tomato pathogenic fungi, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum and Verticill ium albo-atrum; the third is a test based to the ability to reduce DNA peak size in procedures using an HPLC system for detection of antitumour agents ; the fourth is a toxicity test using larva of Artemia salina; and the last is an enzymatic inhibitory test against papain and trypsin. For all the bi oassays, extracts of C. savignyi were found to be bioactive. This result su ggests that this tunicate is able to produce biologically active agents req uired for an overall defence against their predators. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sci ence Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.