Grant for Exploratory Research: A Novel Source of Natural Products from Plant Associated Microbes

本研究的重点是发现从短叶红豆杉（Taxus brevifolia）和其他红豆杉属植物的树皮（韧皮部、形成层）、叶子和根中分离出来的内生真菌和致病真菌是否获得了产生有趣的天然产物的能力，如紫杉醇，这被认为是该树所特有的。该项目可以为严重短缺的重要天然产品提供一个来源。通过这项探索性研究小额赠款（SGER），合成有机项目正在支持蒙大拿州立大学植物病理学系的Gary A. Strobel博士的研究。在这个项目中要测试的基本假设是，与高等植物密切相关的微生物（真菌）是否获得了产生特定化合物的能力，这些化合物似乎是植物属独有的。

The focus of this research is to discover if endophytic and pathogenic fungi isolated from the inner bark (phloem, cambium), leaves and roots of Taxus brevifolia and other Taxus sp. have acquired the ability to produce interesting natural products, such as taxol, which are thought to be unique to the tree. The project could provide a source of important natural products that are in critically short supply. %%% With this Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER), the Synthetic Organic Program is supporting the research of Dr. Gary A., Strobel of the Plant Pathology Department at Montana State University. The fundamental hypothesis to be tested in this project is whether microbes (fungi) living in close association with higher plants aquire the ability to produce specific compounds that appear to be unique to the plant genus.