BIOPRODUCTION OF SULFOQUINOVOSYLDIGLYCERIDE BY MICROALGAE

RESEARCHERS AT THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE (NCI) HAVE RECENTLY IDENTIFIED A SULFOLIPID (SULFOQUINOVOSYLDIGLYCERIDE) THAT EXHIBITS ANTI-AIDS ACTIVITY IN CULTURED HUMAN CELL LINES. THIS SULFOLIPID WAS EXTRACTED FROM MARINE BLUE-GREEN MICROALGAE, BUT THE SQD PRODUCTIVITY OF THE TWO KEY SPECIES WAS ONLY 0.1-0.3 MG/LITER/DAY. MARTEK CORPORATION HAS RECENTLY IDENTIFIED A MICROALGAL ISOLATE IN ITS CULTURE COLLECTION (MK8908) THAT IS A NATURAL OVERPRODUCER OF SQD AND HAS OPTIMIZED ITS GROWTH SUCH THAT THE SQD PRODUCTIVITY IS ABOUT 200-250 MG/LITER/DAY (1,000-FOLD HIGHER THAN THE BLUE-GREEN MICROALGAE). DURING PHASE I, IT IS PLANNED TO SCREEN OVER 250 MUTANT ISOLATES OF THIS ORGANISM FOR SQD PRODUCTIVITY, TO MANIPULATE THE GROWTH CONDITIONS OF A SINGLE STRAIN AND DETERMINE WHICH PARAMETERS INFLUENCE SQD PRODUCTION, AND TO PRODUCE 20 GRAMS OF PURIFIED SDQ FOR NCI RESEARCHERS USING THE OPTIMIZED CONDITIONS. IT IS HOPED THAT WITH THE FURTHERUNDERSTANDING OF THE BIOCHEMISTRY AND METABOLISM OF THIS NEWLY IDENTIFIED ANTI-AIDS COMPOUND, THIS WILL BE ANOTHER STEP FORWARD IN ELIMINATING THIS FATAL DISEASE.