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 | Russell Hill
Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Baltimore, United States of America | | | Faculty Member: Microbiology > Applied Microbiology [ since 10 August 2004 ] |
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The major focus of research in my laboratory is the investigation of symbiotic bacteria associated with marine invertebrates, in particular, sponges. Many important compounds with pharmaceutical potential have been discovered in sponges and other invertebrates. There is circumstantial evidence that in some cases the compounds of interest are produced, not by the sponges themselves, but by bacteria associated with the sponges. We are identifying many of the bacteria present in sponges even if we cannot grow them, by cloning the genes encoding the 16S ribosomal RNA from these sponges. We can then rationally select culture conditions to be able to grow a higher proportion of the bacteria and, hopefully, find the ones that produce important compounds. We have a major research project on the microbes associated with an Indonesian sponge that contains an anti-malarial compound. This is in collaboration with Dr. Mark Hamann at the School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi.
We also have research projects in the important first stage of the drug discovery process, focusing on discovery of unusual marine bacteria which have a high potential of producing novel products. A major part of my research program is the study of actinomycetes from the marine environment. Actinomycetes are very important in terms of production of bioactive compounds, for example more that two-thirds of antibiotics come from this single group of bacteria. Actinomycetes are generally thought of as soil microbes. Soils from around the world have been searched by pharmaceutical companies for novel actinomycetes, but these searches are now resulting in rediscovery of previously investigated actinomycetes. However, we have been finding an interesting and diverse assemblage of novel actinomycetes in the marine environment.
The overall aim of this research is to improve knowledge of marine microbial ecology in order to more efficiently be able to isolate marine bacteria which produce important bioactive compounds that can be used as antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs.
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