NEW DIMENSIONS IN NATURAL-PRODUCTS RESEARCH - CULTURED MARINE MICROORGANISMS

After almost 40 years of investigation, a period in which over 6000 new compounds have been discovered, marine natural products researchers have begun to view the marine environment from a different perspective. Marine microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and microalgae, most of which were previously ignored, have now come into focus as important new sources of biologically active compounds. Exciting recent results include the landmark structural characterization of maitotoxin, a dinoflagellate metabolite that is the most toxic and largest non-biopolymer ever studied, and the discovery of curacin A, a potential anticancer agent from a marine cyanobacterium. Although new compounds are being isolated from marine microorganisms, a great need exists for the development of microbiological methods that will allow the isolation and culture of microorganisms that are truly unique to the marine environment.