Chemical Defense in Marine Organisms

该研究的重点是一个以化学为基础的计划，以探索海洋植物和动物的天然产物化学和化学生态学。 将对海鞘、柳珊瑚和苔藓虫的新的生物活性天然产物进行化学研究，包括分离科学和有机结构测定方面的新方法的应用。 此外，还将探索了解所选次级代谢产物的区域选择性反应性和骨架相互关系的研究。 与海洋生态学家合作，将进行研究，以说明可能的功能，如化学防御，在竞争激烈的海洋栖息地的次级代谢产物。 该项目强调在自然海洋环境中，在受控实验中利用自然捕食者对纯物质进行生态相关测试。 有了这个奖项，合成有机计划是支持博士威廉H。 他是加州大学圣地亚哥分校斯克里普斯海洋研究所海洋研究部的一名科学家。 Fenical教授将专注于探索海洋植物和动物的天然产物化学和化学生态学。 该项目将研究海洋生物产生的分子的来源、类型和反应性，并将探讨这些分子在海洋生境内物种间相互作用中的自然功能。 通过建立化学家和生物学家的联系，该计划将使人们了解这些有机分子如何影响热带海洋环境的生物组成。

The focus of this research is a chemically-based program to explore the natural products chemistry and chemical ecology of marine plants and animals. Chemical studies of new, bioactive natural products from ascidians, gorgonians and bryozoans will be carried out, involving the application of new methods in separation science and organic structure determination. Also studies to comprehend the regioselective reactivities and skeletal interrelationships of selected secondary metabolites will be explored. Working with marine ecologists studies will be performed to illustrate the possible functions, such as chemical defense, of secondary metabolites in competitive marine habitats. The project emphasizes ecologically relevant testing of pure substances using natural predators in controlled experiments in a natural marine setting. With this award, the Synthetic Organic Program is supporting the research of Dr. William H. Fenical of the Marine Research Division at the University of California, San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Professor Fenical will focus his work on exploring the natural products chemistry and chemical ecology of marine plants and animals. The project will study the sources, types and reactivities of molecules produced by marine organisms and will explore the natural functions of these molecules in the interspecies interactions within marine habitats. By creating a linkage of chemists and biologists, the program will allow one to understand how these organic molecules influence the biological composition of tropical marine environments.