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Abstract

Sea urchins comprise the class Echinoidea under phylum Echinodermata are globular, spiny, hard-shelled organisms that inhabit the ocean floor. Taking to account that microbial populations in sea water may reach numbers as high as 106/mL, marine organisms are exposed in much harsher conditions in comparison to their terrestrial counterparts. Thus, marine organisms rely on complex antimicrobial systems to survive in such condition. Sea urchins have shown various antimicrobial activities. These include the coelomocytes of Paracentrotus lividus and ovary extract of Diadema setosum. Methanolic extract of Tripneustes gratilla showed antibacterial activity. T. gratilla is abundant in the island of Guimaras, Central Philippines. T. gratilla manifest antimicrobial properties against an array of pathogenic bacteria, wherein the highest antimicrobial activity was found in the guts and gonad extracts. However, the information about the bioactive compounds present in this extract is still scarce. Identification of such bioactive compounds is necessary for the confirmation and correlation of the bactericidal effects and also the possibility of discovering novel compounds from this species. For this study, methanolic extract was filtered using Whatmann No. 1 filter paper and 0.5 �¼m microfilter. Samples were eluded with water, methanol-water and methanol in a Sep-Pak C18 cartridge and then analyzed using Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) and compounds detected were identified.

Biography

John Rafael Ambag is currently a Student (Grade 10) at the Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus in Jaro, Iloilo City, Philippines.

Email: jambag@wvc.pshs.edu.ph