Exploration, conservation, and development of marine bi*

说明(由申请人提供)：总体目标是通过利用生态洞察来指导对斐济生物多样性珊瑚礁生物和海洋微生物的新天然产品的调查，从而发现小分子药物对对发展中国家和美国至关重要的一组目标疾病的领导作用。该项目还帮助建立保护南太平洋海洋生物多样性的地方机构和态度，并以为这些海洋环境的所有者提供积极经济激励的方式实现这一目标。这些努力将在南太平洋大学(USP)建立南太平洋生物多样性保护和药物发现中心。该中心将为拥有USP的12个岛国(库克群岛、斐济、基里巴斯、马绍尔群岛、瑙鲁、纽埃、萨摩亚、所罗门群岛、托克劳、汤加、图瓦卢和瓦努阿图)服务，并在ICBG赠款结束时成为一个独立和自给自足的单位。具体目标是：每年收集、提取和生物测定海洋放线菌样本500个，珊瑚礁植物和无脊椎动物样本500个。利用生态学方法诱导海洋生物天然产品的更大多样性和潜力，作为药物先导进行勘探。进行生物测定指导下的活性成分分离，并确定每年25个新的生物活性分子的结构。测试这些新型天然产品对癌症、疟疾、艾滋病毒-艾滋病、结核病和其他感染性疾病致病微生物的抗药性，包括耐药金黄色葡萄球菌、粪肠球菌和白色念珠菌。促进以科学知识为基础的珊瑚礁养护、管理、生物监测和以生物多样性为基础、在生态上可持续的替代创收。向斐济和拟议的南太平洋生物多样性保护和药物发现中心转让适当技术。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Overall objectives are to discover small molecule drug leads against a targeted group of diseases critical to developing nations and to the United States, by using ecological insights to guide the investigation of novel natural products from biodiverse coral reef organisms and marine microbes of Fiji. The project also helps build local institutions and attitudes to conserve marine biodiversity of the South Pacific, and undertakes this goal in ways that provide positive economic incentives for the owners of these marine environments. These efforts will found the South Pacific Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Drug Discovery at the University of the South Pacific (USP). This center will serve the 12 island nations that own USP (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu), and be an independent and self-sustaining unit by the end of the ICBG grant. Specific aims are: To collect, extract, and bioassay 500 samples from marine actinomycetes and 500 samples from coral reef plants and invertebrates each year. To use ecological approaches to induce a greater diversity and potency of natural products from marine organisms for exploration as drug leads. To perform bioassay-guided isolation of active constituents and determine the structure of 25 new bioactive molecules per year. To test these novel natural products against cancer, malaria, HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, and other infectious disease-causing organisms including drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecium, and Candida albicans. To promote scientifically-informed coral reef conservation, management, biological monitoring, and alternative income generation that is biodiversity-based and ecologically sustainable. To transfer appropriate technology to Fiji and the proposed South Pacific Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Drug Discovery.