Antifouling Activity of Synthetic Alkylpyridinium Polymers Using the Barnacle Model

Marine Drugs

Veronica Piazza²  Ivanka Dragić¹  Kristina Sepčić¹  Marco Faimali²  Francesca Garaventa²  Tom Turk¹ 

[1] Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia; E-Mails:;Section of Marine Technologies, Marine Science Institute ISMAR, CNR—Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via de Marini 6, Genova 16149, Italy; E-Mails:

关键词: Amphibalanus amphitrite;    antifouling;    natural product antifoulants;    alkylpyridinium polymers;    Haliclona (Rhizoniera) sarai;    barnacle;    settlement assay;    toxicity assay;    swimming inhibition assay;   

DOI  :  10.3390/md12041959

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Polymeric alkylpyridinium salts (poly-APS) isolated from the Mediterranean marine sponge, Haliclona (Rhizoniera) sarai, effectively inhibit barnacle larva settlement and natural marine biofilm formation through a non-toxic and reversible mechanism. Potential use of poly-APS-like compounds as antifouling agents led to the chemical synthesis of monomeric and oligomeric 3-alkylpyridinium analogues. However, these are less efficient in settlement assays and have greater toxicity than the natural polymers. Recently, a new chemical synthesis method enabled the production of poly-APS analogues with antibacterial, antifungal and anti-acetylcholinesterase activities. The present study examines the antifouling properties and toxicity of six of these synthetic poly-APS using the barnacle (Amphibalanus amphitrite) as a model (cyprids and II stage nauplii larvae) in settlement, acute and sub-acute toxicity assays. Two compounds, APS8 and APS12-3, show antifouling effects very similar to natural poly-APS, with an anti-settlement effective concentration that inhibits 50% of the cyprid population settlement (EC₅₀) after 24 h of 0.32 mg/L and 0.89 mg/L, respectively. The toxicity of APS8 is negligible, while APS12-3 is three-fold more toxic (24-h LC₅₀: nauplii, 11.60 mg/L; cyprids, 61.13 mg/L) than natural poly-APS. This toxicity of APS12-3 towards nauplii is, however, 60-fold and 1200-fold lower than that of the common co-biocides, Zn- and Cu-pyrithione, respectively. Additionally, exposure to APS12-3 for 24 and 48 h inhibits the naupliar swimming ability with respective IC₅₀ of 4.83 and 1.86 mg/L.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.