Goal 1: Biotechnology: Use Marine Biotechnology to Create and Enhance Products and Processes from Florida’s Coastal Resources

1.1 Nemertines and sponges produce pyridyl alkaloids that affect barnacle larvae. The goal is to develop single analogs of pyridyls that can be economically synthesized and could be practical antifouling additives for marine paints that are less harmful to the marine environment than currently used paint additives. (Kem /Soti : R/LR-MB-20)

1.2 Conopeptides are powerful neuropharmocological agents that can be used for a wide variety of applications. A new class of conopeptides from snails has been discovered and the goal is to carry out extensive biological assays geared towards the evaluation of these new compounds as potential for therapeutic agents. (Mari /Fields : R/LR-MB-21)

1.3 The overall goal of this project is to discover new natural products from Florida benthic marine cyanobacteria that will be useful as drugs in the treatment of human disease. Marine cyanobacteria produce a great diversity of compounds, mostly non-ribosomal peptides and lipopeptides, with over 200 natural products reported. Marine cyanobacteria provide an exceptional resource for new natural products because of their tremendous biodiversity and chemical diversity, and this project will be the first systematic approach to studying benthic cyanobacteria from Florida coastal waters for biotechnological applications. (Paul, V. /Ross /West /Luesch : R/LR-MB-22)

1.4 The goal is to provide a novel approach to recombinant production of potent bioactive compounds produced by the marine sponge genus Discodermia. The resulting molecular sequence data will serve as a novel genetic resource (e.g. toolkit) for research and industry, enabling downstream experiments and sustainable production of unique bioactive marine natural products. (2008) (Lopez : R/LR-MB-23)

1.5 Lack of supply has hampered the development of many marine natural products. The aim of the project is to purify the native terpene synthase leading to eleutherobin and clone the corresponding gene. The long-term goal is to develop a commercially relevant production method of eleutherobin combining recombinant technology with chemical synthesis. (2008) (Kerr : R/LR-MB-24)