CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM – A REPOSITORY OF MARINE PRODUCTS Coral reefs are lime stone
structures
made up of billions of tiny
marine animals called ‘Polyps”. About
60% of the world’s reef are covered by Indian Ocean( an area about 73,600,000 sq.kms.). The great
barrier off Queensland of Australia
has the biggest aggregation of reefs in the world, having a length of 1931 kms
and with a varying width of 16 to 322 Kms. India holds 10th place
among countries blessed with coral reef. A total of 208 species have been
hitherto known from India. Coral reefs consists of a diverse
assemblage of invertebrates such as tunicates, bryozoans, sponges,echinoderms
mollusks etc. Since they are lowly organized they do not have well defined
organs for defence and offence, but they emit their toxins to the surrounding
water in order to kill or repel the enemies, It is also required to prevent the
overgrowth of competing organisms. These bioactive compounds may be synthesized
by the organism or by endosymbiotic microorganisms that inhabit in the tissues.
This chemical armory can be made useful to mankind as suitable pharmaceuticals
like antitumour , antiviral ,painkillers etc. eg- Dolostatin10, Ara-A, Ara-C,
and AZT etc.also pesticides,enzymes and cosmetics. The potential importance of
coral reefs as source novel drugs and medicines are still not understood by
public and policy makers. Among coral
communities, sponges
are the ideal candidates for bioprospecting. Because a single sponge species
can be populated by dozens of different symbiotic bacteria that provide a wide
variety of drugs. Japanese researchers have identified at least 100 species of
sponges worth biomedical applications. Coastal populations worldwide continue
to rely on coral reefs for their traditional uses. Increased unsustainable
rates of collection coupled with pollution, habitat destruction and climatic
changes are threatening the vitality of this precious ecosystem. Research
communities, government agencies and private sector are to interact effectively
to preserve this asset.