Marine organisms have proven to be an important resource for new natural products. However, in many cases it is difficult, if not impossible, to ensure a constant supply of material for further biological testing and evaluation. Marine microalgae have been recognized as an important biological resource for new chemical compounds, but they remain underexploited, even today. Indeed, most studies of microalgae have been focused on those species that produce toxins, which represent a small percentage of the total group. However, the presence of toxins, often of unique structure, indicates that the producing organism has the biosynthetic capability to produce other unusual or exotic molecules. However these other non-toxic metabolites may be overlooked, and in addition may only be present in very small amounts. The UNCW Center for Marine Science (CMS) has a unique collection of over 300 clones of microalgae, representing several groups, of which only two species have been investigated by CMS scientists for the compounds they produce. This collection, coupled with the extensive culture scale-up and chemical processing facilities at CMS, ensures an unlimited supply of new chemical compounds. These compounds, as they are obtained, are characterized by the well-equipped structural organic chemistry group located at CMS. The libraries of compounds will be provided to NIH under the conditions of any award. Compounds will be accompanied by certificates of analysis, including structure elucidation. Compounds will be cataloged at CMS to permit re-isolation from cultured sources on a continual or increased basis, as needed. ? ?
