Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Pomponi, Shirley A.

Abstract

Marine sponges are economically and environmentally valuable, but restoration, commercial, and biomedical demands exceed what wild populations and aquaculture can provide. In vitro culture of sponge cells is a promising alternative, but has remained elusive until recent breakthroughs involving improved nutrient medium M1 in two-dimensional culture. The advantages of three-dimensional over two-dimensional cell culture have been increasingly recognized. Here we report the successful 21-day culture of cells from the marine sponge Geodia neptuni using multiple three-dimensional cell culture methods: FibraCel© disks, thin hydrogel layers, gel micro droplets, and spheroid cell culture. These methods performed comparably to two-dimensional control cultures, and each method offers advantages for restoration or in vitro applications using sponge cells. Further optimization of these methods may lead to the ability to culture fully functioning sponges from dissociated, cryopreserved cells, which will reduce the need for wild harvest of sponge tissues for commercial, restoration, and biomedical purposes.

Extent

95 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Thesis (MS)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00013726

Format

pdf

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