REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Ecological Chemistry at the University of Cádiz, Spain

该计划在西班牙西南部的Cádiz大学有机化学系建立了一个新的夏季国际REU站点。在此REU期间，8名学生将有机会参加化学生态学领域的两个实验室之一。在化感作用组，学生将从南极地衣中分离、鉴定和量化次生代谢物。在过去几年中，由于气候变化，南极大陆发生了重大的生物和非生物变化。地衣产生一系列次生代谢物；根据当地的环境条件，同一物种会产生不同的化合物。虽然在化学分类中对地衣次生代谢物进行了广泛的表征，但这是第一次系统地比较生态样带和时间变化的研究之一。Cádiz省的南部海岸构成了直布罗陀海峡的一侧。这个独特的位置包含了一个具有巨大生态利益的地区，拥有欧洲海岸最大的生物多样性。它已被宣布为自然保护区。该地区已发现海洋动植物2000多种，其中一些是特有的或分布范围有限的。在海洋天然产品组中，学生还将从该地区特有的海洋生物中分离、鉴定和量化代谢物。一旦化合物从这两个群体中分离和鉴定出来，进一步的研究将确定生物活性化合物，并阐明其分子作用机制和随后在生态系统中的作用。

This program establishes a new summer International REU site at the University of Cádiz, in southwestern Spain in the Dept. of Organic Chemistry. During this REU, eight students will have the opportunity to participate in one of two labs in the area of Chemical ecology. In the Allelopathy group, students will isolate, identify and quantify secondary metabolites from Antarctic lichens. Over the past several years, there have been significant biotic and abiotic changes on the Antarctic continent due to climate shifts. Lichens produce an array of secondary metabolites; with different compounds being produced within the same species depending upon local environmental conditions. While there has been extensive characterization of lichen secondary metabolites in chemotaxonomy, this is one of the first studies to systematically compare changes along an ecological transect as well as through time. The southern coast of the province of Cádiz forms one of the sides of the Strait of Gibraltar. This unique position encompasses an area of great ecological interest, housing the greatest biodiversity of Europe's coasts. It has been declared a protected natural area. More than 2000 species of marine flora and fauna have been described in this region, some of them being endemic or with a restricted area of distribution. In the Marine Natural Products group, students will also isolate, identify, and quantify metabolites from marine organisms endemic to the region. Once the compounds have been isolated and identified from both groups, further studies will identify the bioactive compounds and their molecular mechanism of action and subsequent role in the ecosystem will be elucidated.