Diversity of prokaryotic communities associated with sponges in Vietnam and their secondary metabolite biosynthetic potential

Samenvatting

Vietnam is one of the sixteen greatest biologically diverse countries in the world and Vietnam’s coastal region is also among the global biodiversity hotspots with unique biota and is a high-priority area for marine conservation. This coastal region holds high biodiversity conservation values with over 11,000 marine species, including 128 identified sponge species. However, the diversity of prokaryotes associated with sponges as well as their biotechnological potential has been largely unexplored.

The research described in this thesis aimed to investigate the prokaryotic communities associated with sponges in Vietnam and their antimicrobial potential by applying cultivation-dependent and -independent approaches.