Chemical Defense in Marine Organisms

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Professor William Fenical in the Marine Research Division at the University of California, San Diego Scripps Institute is supported by the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program for his studies on the defense chemicals utilized by marine plants and animals against a diversity of pathogenic microbes. Bioassays for six known algal and invertebrate pathogens will be used to assess 1) the inhibition of microbial growth (antibiosis) and 2) the inhibition of microbial attachment (anti-settlement). New assays for additional pathogens will continue to be developed. Structure determination studies of several antifungal metabolites are ongoing and characterization of new bioactive metabolites discovered during the course of this project will be carried out.With the support of the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program, Professor Fenical is isolating organic compounds which marine plants and animals use as a chemical defense against various pathogenic microbes. There is a possibility that some of these novel bioactive compounds which exhibit antifungal or antibiotic activity may prove useful in controlling human infectious diseases.