Sunday, August 12, 2012
Columbia Hall, Terrace Level (Washington Hilton)
Natural products continue to play an integral role in the discovery and development of drugs that are used to treat various diseases. However, finding new structures is becoming increasingly difficult. One approach to overcome this barrier is to mimic the microbial ecosystem through mixed fermentation of two or more organisms known to produce bioactive compounds. The resulting interactions may allow us to tap into the unrealized biosynthetic potential of these organisms by inducing or improving production of previously unreported secondary metabolites.
As part of our ongoing co-culture studies, we present here the results obtained from a co-culture of Fusarium pallidoroseum with Saccharopolyspora erythrae. Equisetin, a tetramic acid previously isolated from the genus Fusarium, exhibits phytotoxic, antibiotic and cytotoxic activities. It has also been reported to inhibit mitochondrial ATPases and HIV-1 integrase in-vitro. By co-culturing these two microorganisms we were able to isolate and identify new analogs of equisetin together with known metabolites never reported for these two genera. Funded by NCI Contract No. HHSN261200800001E.
As part of our ongoing co-culture studies, we present here the results obtained from a co-culture of Fusarium pallidoroseum with Saccharopolyspora erythrae. Equisetin, a tetramic acid previously isolated from the genus Fusarium, exhibits phytotoxic, antibiotic and cytotoxic activities. It has also been reported to inhibit mitochondrial ATPases and HIV-1 integrase in-vitro. By co-culturing these two microorganisms we were able to isolate and identify new analogs of equisetin together with known metabolites never reported for these two genera. Funded by NCI Contract No. HHSN261200800001E.