AP 2. Symbiosis: Ecorationale for bacterial isolation and drug screening

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AP2. Symbiosis Summary PMS-ICBG focuses on microbes associated with mollusks as sources of novel bioactive molecules. In many cases, bacterial symbionts are highly adapted to their host, and have complex interactions with their hosts and other organisms in the habitat. Molecules that are employed in these interactions have been selected through evolution for useful activities, and low toxicity to the host, and thus are ideal candidates for drug development. In our past research we have made a series of discoveries about mollusk symbiosis that inform our search for drugs, and give us insight into the biodiversity of mollusks. In this project we will investigate the microbial communities of mollusks, study the interactions among microbes associated with mollusks, and discover the spatial distribution of mollusk symbiont bioactive molecules to understand their roles in the symbiosis. Insights from these studies will be used to guide the drug discovery efforts in designing bacterial isolation methods, selecting strains likely to produce valuable compounds, and eliciting metabolite production. This AP is led by Margo Haygood, with participation from Daniel Distel, Eric Schmidt, Hiroaki Naka and Roberta O'Connor.