Significance of investigating allelopathic interactions of marine organisms in the discovery and development of cytotoxic compounds

• Sponges compete for space with other sessile invertebrates by allelochemicals.
• These allelochemicals can kill rapidly growing cells of their space competitors.
• Hence, some of these chemicals can be developed as cytotoxic molecules of therapeutic importance.
• Various biotic and abiotic factors govern the production of allelochemicals.

Marine sessile organisms often inhabit rocky substrata, which are crowded by other sessile organisms. They acquire living space via growth interactions and/or by allelopathy. They are known to secrete toxic compounds having multiple roles. These compounds have been explored for their possible applications in cancer chemotherapy, because of their ability to kill rapidly dividing cells of competitor organisms. As compared to the therapeutic applications of these compounds, their possible ecological role in competition for space has received little attention. To select the potential candidate organisms for the isolation of lead cytotoxic molecules, it is important to understand their chemical ecology with special emphasis on their allelopathic interactions with their competitors. Knowledge of the ecological role of allelopathic compounds will contribute significantly to an understanding of their natural variability and help us to plan effective and sustainable wild harvests to obtain novel cytotoxic chemicals. This review highlights the significance of studying allelopathic interactions of marine invertebrates in the discovery of cytotoxic compounds, by selecting sponge as a model organism.

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