Detection and Characterization of Genes Associated with the Synthesis of Bioactive Compounds in Bacteria from Marine Sediments of the Chilean Coast: Searching for Novel Antimicrobial Agents
The aim is to discover the potential of novel natural products is provided by marine environments, since the diversity of these huge microbial populations is largely unexplored. Actinobacteria represent the most prominent taxon of microorganisms for the production of bioactive compounds, notably antibiotics and antitumor agents and many bioactive natural products for direct health-related application have been isolated from marine Actinobacteria derived from sea sediments.
Diarienummer: 348-2013-6713
An International Collaboration Research Exchange project funded by the Swedish Research Council – Swedish Research Links (SRL) Programme, with 750,000 SEK for 2014-2016.
The principle participants of the SRL consortium are: 1) Edward Moore, Sahlgrenska Academy, UGOT (Principle Investigator); 2) Beatroz Cámara, Federico Santa Maria Technical University, Valparaiso Chile; 3) Michael Seeger, Federico Santa Maria Technical University, Valparaiso Chile; 4) Roger Karlsson, Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhuset and Nanoxis AB; 5) Erik Kristiansson, Chalmers Technical University.
Bioactive compounds are increasingly required for diverse biotechnological applications. They are of major relevance in the development of new drugs, such as antibiotics, particularly in the face of the global challenge of multi-drug resistance in microbial pathogens. The World Health Organisation (WHO) identified antibiotic resistance as one of the three greatest threats to human health and warned that the world is in danger of entering a post-antibiotic era, in which no chemotherapeutic agents will be available for treating infectious disease. An excellent opportunity to discover the potential of novel natural products is provided by marine environments, since the diversity of these huge microbial populations is largely unexplored. Actinobacteria represent the most prominent taxon of microorganisms for the production of bioactive compounds, notably antibiotics and antitumor agents and many bioactive natural products for direct health-related application have been isolated from marine Actinobacteria derived from sea sediments. The project is a multi-disciplinary collaboration for research exchange between the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa Maria (www.utfsm.cl) in Valpariso, Chile, the Culture Collection University of Gothenburg (CCUG; www.ccug.se) at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, a Small-to Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) in Gothenburg, Nanoxis AB (www.nanoxis.com) and Chalmers Technical University.