meant developing something new that would be less expensive and highly effective
while leaving no negative impact on organisms.
A number of ideas have been presented in the search for substances to prevent
biofouling, and one of them has involved research into the possibilities of natural,
organism-derived materials. Marine organisms synthesize such a wide variety of
substances within their body, and an active search is now under way to find
anti-biofouling agents in the natural materials that they produce. The most widely
used sessile organism in studies to verify their efficacy has been the sea mussel Sea
mussels are a widely recognized variety of sessile organism that can commonly be
found on Korea’s coasts. To investigate their use in researching anti-biofouling
materials, a circle four centimeters in diameter is first drawn on water-resistant
paper measuring around one millimeter in thickness. Sea mussels measuring 20–
25 mm are then placed around it and fixed in place according to the following
method. First, a five-millimeter piece of rubber is attached to the shell with adhesive, and then glued to the paper. As a result, the sea mussel is immobilized, but its
interior remains unaffected. The anti-biofouling substance under investigation is
then dissolved in water or ethanol and painted in the four-centimeter circle, which is
then dried. The paper is placed in seawater and left in a dark place. From within its
shell, the mussel extends its foot and feels for the center of the circle to find a place
to attach. Once it finds a suitable location, it produces a few strands of thin protein
thread called a byssus and fixes the shell (its body) in place (Fig. 1.1) (Harino et al.
2007).
If the sea mussel does not like the substance painted in the circle, it will not
produce a byssus. The substance that prevents the sea mussel’s byssus from being
extended is thus an anti-biofouling agent. Through investigations using this
method, a number of compounds of different structures have been identified as
anti-biofouling substances. Among sessile organisms, barnacles cause even greater
damage still, and the barnacles themselves must be used for testing to determine
effective anti-biofouling substances. Sea mussels can be collected from the ocean
for use in experiments, but barnacle different from the mussels in attaching during
their larval stage and spending their entire lives in the same location. As such,
barnacle larvae must be used in experimentation. While similar in form to shellfish,
barnacles are crustaceans, part of the same family as shrimp and crabs. Once
incubated, they pass through nauplius and cypris larval stages before reaching
adulthood (Murosaki et al. 2009). Barnacles begin attaching during their cypris
stage. Incubating a barnacle and raising it to adulthood in the laboratory is a very
difficult process that almost always ends in failure. But Japan’s Marine Biotechnology Institute has successfully developed a method of raising barnacles to supply
larvae for experimentation. From examining the effects of anti-biofouling materials
from marine organisms on the larvae, it was determined that a compound known as
2,5,6-tribromo-1-methylgulamine from the bryozoan Zoobotryon pellucidum was a
strongly active agent. Z. pellucidum possesses tentacles of roughly the same
thickness as a vermicelli noodle. It typically attaches to rock surfaces, where it can
be found dwelling in the waters off of Korea’s coast. The discovery meant that
2,5,6-tribromo-1-methylgulamine had been found in an organism that can survive
1.4 Marine Life Sciences: The Future Is in Sight
11
while leaving no negative impact on organisms.
A number of ideas have been presented in the search for substances to prevent
biofouling, and one of them has involved research into the possibilities of natural,
organism-derived materials. Marine organisms synthesize such a wide variety of
substances within their body, and an active search is now under way to find
anti-biofouling agents in the natural materials that they produce. The most widely
used sessile organism in studies to verify their efficacy has been the sea mussel Sea
mussels are a widely recognized variety of sessile organism that can commonly be
found on Korea’s coasts. To investigate their use in researching anti-biofouling
materials, a circle four centimeters in diameter is first drawn on water-resistant
paper measuring around one millimeter in thickness. Sea mussels measuring 20–
25 mm are then placed around it and fixed in place according to the following
method. First, a five-millimeter piece of rubber is attached to the shell with adhesive, and then glued to the paper. As a result, the sea mussel is immobilized, but its
interior remains unaffected. The anti-biofouling substance under investigation is
then dissolved in water or ethanol and painted in the four-centimeter circle, which is
then dried. The paper is placed in seawater and left in a dark place. From within its
shell, the mussel extends its foot and feels for the center of the circle to find a place
to attach. Once it finds a suitable location, it produces a few strands of thin protein
thread called a byssus and fixes the shell (its body) in place (Fig. 1.1) (Harino et al.
2007).
If the sea mussel does not like the substance painted in the circle, it will not
produce a byssus. The substance that prevents the sea mussel’s byssus from being
extended is thus an anti-biofouling agent. Through investigations using this
method, a number of compounds of different structures have been identified as
anti-biofouling substances. Among sessile organisms, barnacles cause even greater
damage still, and the barnacles themselves must be used for testing to determine
effective anti-biofouling substances. Sea mussels can be collected from the ocean
for use in experiments, but barnacle different from the mussels in attaching during
their larval stage and spending their entire lives in the same location. As such,
barnacle larvae must be used in experimentation. While similar in form to shellfish,
barnacles are crustaceans, part of the same family as shrimp and crabs. Once
incubated, they pass through nauplius and cypris larval stages before reaching
adulthood (Murosaki et al. 2009). Barnacles begin attaching during their cypris
stage. Incubating a barnacle and raising it to adulthood in the laboratory is a very
difficult process that almost always ends in failure. But Japan’s Marine Biotechnology Institute has successfully developed a method of raising barnacles to supply
larvae for experimentation. From examining the effects of anti-biofouling materials
from marine organisms on the larvae, it was determined that a compound known as
2,5,6-tribromo-1-methylgulamine from the bryozoan Zoobotryon pellucidum was a
strongly active agent. Z. pellucidum possesses tentacles of roughly the same
thickness as a vermicelli noodle. It typically attaches to rock surfaces, where it can
be found dwelling in the waters off of Korea’s coast. The discovery meant that
2,5,6-tribromo-1-methylgulamine had been found in an organism that can survive
1.4 Marine Life Sciences: The Future Is in Sight
11