Synthesis of a natural proline-rich cyclopolypeptide - rolloamide A [8] was carried out by coupling of tri- and tetrapeptide units Boc-Phe-Pro-Val-OMe and Boc-Pro-Leu-Pro-Ile-OMe after proper deprotection at carboxyl and amino terminals using carbodiimide chemistry in alkaline environment followed by cyclization of linear heptapeptide segment in the presence of base. The structure of synthesize...

One known and two new glycerolipids have been isolated from a Sarcotragus sp. marine sponge. The gross structures were established based on NMR and MS analysis.

A number of natural products from marine sponges, such as cyclodepsipeptides, have been identified. The structural characteristics of this family of cyclic peptides include various unusual amino acid residues and unique N-terminal polyketide-derived moieties. Papuamides are representatives of a class of marine sponge derived cyclic depsipeptides, including callipeltin A, celebesides A and B, ho...

Actinoalloteichus hymeniacidonis HPA 177T is a Gram-positive, strictly aerobic, black pigment producing and spore-forming actinomycete, which forms branching vegetative hyphae and was isolated from the marine sponge Hymeniacidon perlevis. Actinomycete bacteria are prolific producers of secondary metabolites, some of which have been developed into anti-microbial, anti-tumor and immunosuppressive...

BACKGROUND The marine sponge Tethya wilhelma and the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri are emerging model organisms to study evolution, gene regulation, development, and physiology in non-bilaterian animal systems. Thus far, functional methods (i.e., loss or gain of function) for these organisms have not been available. RESULTS We show that soaking developing freshwater sponges in double-s...

Certain species of marine sponges in the order Dictyoceratida harbor large populations of the cyanobacterial symbiont Oscillatoria spongeliae in the mesohyl (interior) of the sponge. We show that in four of these sponge species (Lamellodysidea herbacea, Lamellodysidea chlorea, Lendenfeldia chondrodes, and Phyllospongia papyracea) from Palau there is a consistent community of alpha-proteobacteri...

The marine-derived Scopulariopsis brevicaulis strain LF580 produces scopularides A and B, which have anticancerous properties. We carried out genome sequencing using three next-generation DNA sequencing methods. De novo hybrid assembly yielded 621 scaffolds with a total size of 32.2 Mb and 16298 putative gene models. We identified a large non-ribosomal peptide synthetase gene (nrps1) and suppor...

The ocean covers about 70% of the earth surface providing a diverse living environment for invertebrates [1]. Therefore, marine natural products will play a major role in drug discovery in the future. The work on marine natural products started 59 years ago when Bergman discovered the novel bioactive Arabino-nucleoside from marine sponge Cryptotethya crypta [2]. This discovery encouraged natura...

Exophilin A, a new antibacterial compound, was discovered in the culture of the marine microorganism Exophiala pisciphila NI10102, which was isolated from a marine sponge Mycale adhaerens. The absolute chemical structure of exophilin A was elucidated as a trimer of (3R,5R)-3,5-dihydroxydecanoic acid by spectroscopic methods and analyses of a degradative product. Exophilin A showed antimicrobial...

An assessment of the current status of marine anticancer compounds is presented along with a case study on the aquaculture of Lissodendoryx n. sp. 1, a sponge that produces the antimitotic agents halichondrin B and isohomohalichondrin B. The use of polymer therapeutics to enhance the properties of marine natural products is considered.