MARINE ORGANISM COLLECTIONS

Collections are created by taking fist-sized pieces of each species of algai, sponge, gorgonian/soft coral, and tunicate at a site, identifying them as well as possible in the field, removing a voucher sample for subsequent taxonomic verification and potential molecular analysis, and freezing samples. Frozen samplJanuary 3, 2008 2:49 PMs were then lyophilized, weighed, ground, and extracted using an Automated Solvent Extractor (ASE) system. Solvent was then reduced under pressure via rotary evaporation and extracts were weighed, fingerprinted by HPLC and GCMS, and reposited onto 96-well mother plates for assays in National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) biomedical and agrochemical screens.

Currently available screens in the NCNPR include:
Opportunistic Infections:
(Canidida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Mycobacterium intracellulare, and Aspergillus fumigatus)
Drug Resistant Microbes:
(Staphyloccus aureus)
Methicilin-Resistant:
(Staphyloccus aureus, Pseudomonas aeuriginosa)
Malaria:
(Plasmodium falciparum D6 clone and W2 clone)

OBCR PROJECTS

1) Drs. Dale Nagle and Yu-Dong Zhou: Molecular targets for US Coral Reef drug discovery efforts.

2) Dr. Mark Hamann: Microbial fermentation of Kahalalide F, a marine-derived compound in clinical trials.

3) Dr. Jordan Zjawiony: Semisynthetic modification of sponge and soft coral metabolites.

4) Dr. Deborah Gochfeld: Chemical resistance to desease in corals.

5) Dr. Kristie Willett: Environmental endocrine disruption on coral reefs.

6) Dr. Marc Slattery: Combinatorial genetics of hybrid soft coral chemistry.