Marine Natural Products and Chemical Ecology

Marine Natural Products Chemistry is the study of the structure and chemistry of compounds produced by marine plants and animals such as algae and sponges. Our interest lies in two main areas:

Finding and identifying compounds that have unique physical and chemical properties.
Using the methods of natural products chemistry to delve into the chemical ecology of marine systems — "Are the compounds being synthesised by an organism effective as defensive agents, toxins or attractants?" "How do they effect the structure of marine communities?" These latter studies are usually performed in collaboration with marine biologists at the Universities of New South Wales and Wollongong, and the Central Coast Campus of The University of Newcastle.
We are also interested in the discovery of new pharmaceuticals from natural sources and the identification and quantification of organic compounds implicated in environmental processes.

Current Research Interests:

Isolation of New compounds from Brown Algae Cystophora spp.  Chemical Taxonomy of Brown Alga Cystophora spp.  Identification of Secondary Metabolites from Cystophora fibrosa  New Natural Antifoulants for Marine Applications Searching for New Lead Compounds As Dynamin Inhibitors

Isolation of New compounds from Brown Algae Cystophora spp

This is a stand natural prodject which involves the isolation of new and interesting compounds by chromatographic methods such as planar centrifugal chromatography and HPLC followed by identification by spectrometric techniques e.g. 1 and 2 dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). Other than the excitement of finding compounds completely new to science, this project has the view to the development of rapid GCMS analysis of ecologically active compounds in Cystophora spp. and subsequent elucidation of the role they play in the chemical ecology of Cystophora in the marine environment.

Chemical Taxonomy of Brown Alga Cystophora spp.

In 1995 two significant papers appeared regarding the chemical taxonomy of alga from the Cystoseiraceae family. Chemical taxonomy uses the secondary metabolites present in an organism to elaborate their evolutionary and taxonomic relationships; Algae that produce similar compounds are closer to each other on the 'family tree' than those that have no compound types in common. Algae from the Cystophora genus belong to the Cystoseiraceae and since they are not well studied and are, by and large, only found in temperate Australasian waters, it seemed to us that we could make a significant contribution in this area. This study is a mixture of interpretation of our previous results and those of others, and investigating the metabolites of the remaining unstudied algae in the genus.

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Identification of Secondary Metabolites from Cystophora fibrosa

Arising from our ongoing study of the chemical taxonomy of alga from the Cystophora genus, a sample of the only putative non-Australasian Cystophora sp. was collected in South Africa. We are in the process of identifying this specimen's secondary metabolites to discover whether they are consistent with the alga's classification as a Cystophora. Our results, backed with RNA, analysis suggest this species belongs to the genus Cystoseira rather than Cystophora.

New Natural Antifoulants for Marine Applications

Fouling of Marine Structures such as ships, oil rigs, aquaculture nets, and cooling water inlets and outfalls results in multi-million dollar costs from reduced energy efficiency of ships due to drag, increased dynamic load on stationary marine structures, and blockages of aquaculture nets, and piping. Environmental concerns have led to a search for new compounds which can be incorporated into antifouling coatings which, while effective, do not cause wide scale and long term damage to non-target organisms. We are currently pursuing a project to elucidate improved bioassay techniques for antifouling compounds as a prelude to investigating local sessile marine organisms as sources for the next generation of environmentally friendly antifouling compounds. This project is being undertaken in collaboration with Dr Maria Schreider, Central Coast Campus.

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Searching for New Lead Compounds As Dynamin Inhibitors

Dynamin is an important enzyme in the process of vesicle formation which is one of the mechanisms used to transport chemicals and small particles across membrane walls or as a way of insulating an organism from endogenous or exogenous toxic compounds. In this project we are looking to the marine environment as source for compounds that can act as leads to new classes of dynamin inhibitors. In the initial stages new active compounds will be used to probe the, as yet poorly understood, mechanism of action  of this enzyme. In the future this may lead to drugs useful in the treament of diseases associated with dynamin kinetics, e.g. some common neurological disorders.

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Group Members:

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