Biodiversity of marine and inland Antarctic Eukaryotes as a source of natural bioactive substances

The biodiversity of aquatic Antarctic eukaryotes provides an unlimited and largely untapped source of bioactive molecules that can be used for human health. The purpose of our proposal is to probe the antibiotic/antitumor properties of these molecules isolated from freshwater and marine eukaryote species, which can be sampled in the MZS area without impacting local biodiversity and can be cultured and/or maintained in the laboratory for long periods at low cost. Species sampling will be conducted on Protists (ciliates and dinoflagellates), Rotifers (bdelloidea), "primorphs" from sponges, fish surface mucus, and transcriptome sequencing will be conducted from Protists, Rotifers, Echinoderms, and Tunicates to identify genes expressing antimicrobial peptides and enzymes involved in the production of bioactive secondary metabolites.
The objectives of the project are: (i) sample freshwater Protists and Rotifers and marine macroeukaryotes; (ii), keep Protists, Rotifers in culture and obtain "primorphs" from sponges; (iii) sequence transcriptomes to be added to those already obtained by the proposing group and identify putative antibiotic peptides; (iv) obtain purified biochemical fractions from Protists, Rotifers, primorphs, and fish surface mucus; (v) assay in vitro the produced fractions and synthetic peptides for their antitumor/antibiotic activities. The proposal involves three research units from La Tuscia, Trieste and Camerino Universities and one unit from the National Research Council in Naples. These units maintain documented collaborative relationships with years of experience in physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology of Antarctic eukaryotes. The proposal can also count on formal collaboration with the laboratories of Prof. Ian Hawes and Prof. Chris Battershill of the University of Waikato (NZ), with expertise in Antarctic inland eukaryotes and bioactive molecules.