A New Cytotoxic Compound from an unidentified Marine Actinomycete

Abstract

Marine microorganisms have been recognized as a new source for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites. However, marine actinomycetes have been largely ignored until recently.1 To search for new bioactive marine natural products, we have focused considerable attention on the marine actinomycetes. We have isolated more than 4,000 strains of marine-derived actinomycetes from the marine samples such as deep sea and shallow water sediments, marine seaweed and invertebrates. We also have established that about 10% of isolates show some bioactivity in our assays such as cytotoxicity, antimicrobial, antifungal, and enzyme inhibitory activities. We present here the discovery of a new cytotoxic compound from a marine-derived actinomycete. The isolation, structure determination, and biological activity of a new compound from a marine actinomycete will be presented.