Chemistry and bioactivity of Antarctic marine organisms
Résumé
Antarctica is a continent of enigmas. Stunning geographic beauty belies its inhospitable climate. Covered a mile thick in ice, it is the world's largest desert. A harsh geographic history has contributed to marine diversification and enhanced what we now recognize as a rich flora and fauna. Not surprisingly, Antarctic benthic ecology is highly dependent on chemical mediation of interspecific interactions, interweaving chemodiversity with biodiversity in a classical yin and yang feedback loop. The evolution of selective chemical defenses facilitates drug discovery research, producing suites of metabolites that inform structure-activity studies and add breadth to bioactivity profiles. This presentation will focus on recent and contextual research from our lab which has demonstrated the potential for new biomedical lead molecules and scaffolds from these difficult to access biological resources.
