Bioactive compounds from Cyanobacteria and marine fungi

Marine microorganisms are a prolific resourse of new pharmacologically active agents and lead structures. Their special living conditions and functions in the ecosystem forces them to produce a vast number of bioactive metabolites with new structures. These new compounds may have therapeutical relevance as new drugs for humans or animals or for protection of plants.

The main topic of our work is the investigation of cultivated cyanobacteria and marine fungi for their potential to produce substances with antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, cytostatic, immunomodulatory or enzyme inhibitory properties.

Cyanobacteria and marine fungi, isolated from the Baltic sea and other aquatic sources, are cultivated in fermenters as shown above. Extracts obtained from the biomass and from the culture media are screened in several biological test systems. From those extracts, which show interesting activities the responsible substances are isolated by a bioactivity-guided isolation process. Elucidation of chemical structures, optimization of culture conditions and further biological and toxicological tests will follow.
At the department HPLC-DAD, HPLC-MS, NMR and IR are used for the structural characterisation of new compounds. A HPLC-NMR-system (600MHz; including HRMS) will be installed shortly.