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Aquatic Chemical Signaling (Image 2)
Aquatic Chemical Signaling (Image 2)
Seaweed Lobophora variegata. Georgia Institute of Technology assistant professor Julia Kubanek and her colleagues at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have investigated Lobophora variegata, and discovered it has a strong antifungal potency and potentially some cancer-fighting power.
The study, which Kubanek started as a postdoctoral fellow at Scripps and completed after coming to Georgia Tech, focused on whether seaweeds in the ocean can avoid infection by fungi and bacteria through the production of their own natural antibiotics. The seaweeds live in constant contact with potentially dangerous microbes, suggesting they are under pressure to evolve some kind of resistance.
Kubanek and her colleagues may have discovered a new antibiotic with a complex chemical structure that is somewhat similar to other antibiotics produced by terrestrial bacteria. The compound has a strong antifungal potency and potentially some cancer-fighting power as well. The pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb is a partner with Scripps and is collaborating on the ongoing research. The scientists still have to determine whether the seaweed is actually the original source of the antibiotic.
Kubanek is a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program awardee. (Date of Image: 1999) [Image 2 of 2 related images. Back to Image 1.]
Credit: Photo by J.R. Pawlik, off Andros Island, Bahamas; courtesy Georgia Tech
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