STRATEGIES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF SECONDARY METABOLITES FROM MARINE-BACTERIA - ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

Marine-microorganisms have become an important point of study in the s earch for novel microbial products. Today, both academic and industria l interest in marine microorganisms is on the rise, in part-because of the growing number of unique, biologically active secondary metabolit es reported from marine bacteria. Our ability to assess the biosynthet ic potential of marine bacteria, however, is inevitably coupled to our basic understanding of their biology. This review summarizes the chem ical discoveries and biological activities reported from marine bacter ia and focuses upon several microbiological topics as they relate to n atural product discovery, including the distributions, diversity, and culturability of marine bacteria, as well as the role of symbiotic bac teria in the production of substances previously ascribed to other sou rces.