MICROORGANISMS

MARINE MICROORGANISMS ARE A PROMISING YET UNDERUTILIZED SOURCE OF NEW ANTITUMOR AGENTS. SEAPHARM PROPOSES TO CULTURE 360 DIVERSE MARINE MICROORGANISMS DURING THIS PHASE I PROJECT. MICROORGANISMS WILL BE EVENLY DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN NEW ISOLATES AND STRAINS FROM CULTURE COLLECTIONS AND WILL REPRESENT A WIDE VARIETY OF BACTERIAL, FUNGAL, ACTINOMYCETE, AND BLUE-GREEN ALGAL GENERA. MICROORGANISMS WILL BE ISOLATED FROM HABITATS ACCESSIBLE BY DIVERS AND DEEPSUBMERSIBLES. CULTURE OF SYMBIONTS OF HIGHER MARINE ORGANISMS WILL BE PARTICULARLY EMPHASIZED. CULTURES WILL BEGROWN IN 1- TO 2-LITER VOLUME TO YIELD 1 TO 2 GRAMS DRY CELLMASS. CELLS AND GROWTH MEDIUM WILL BE EXTRACTED, AND EXTRACTS TESTED FOR IN VITRO ANTITUMOR ACTIVITY. THE CULTURES THAT YIELD ANTITUMOR ACTIVITIES WILL BE TAXONOMI- CALLY IDENTIFIED, OPTIMAL CONDITIONS FOR PRODUCTION DETER- MINED, AND SUFFICIENT MATERIAL PREPARED TO ALLOW CHEMICAL PURIFICATION AND STRUCTURE DETERMINATION OF THE ACTIVE COMPOUND(S). ANTITUMOR ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BE FOUND IN 30 TO 40 CULTURES, YIELDING 3 TO 4 LEAD COMPOUNDS. THIS PHASE I PROJECT WILL GIVE A BASE OF KNOWLEDGE ON MICRO- ORGANISMAL SOURCES OF ANTITUMOR COMPOUNDS AND A NUMBER OF LEADS TO BE DEVELOPED DURING A PHASE II CONTRACT.