title: Origin and variation of tunicate secondary metabolites.
abstract: Ascidians (tunicates) are rich sources of structurally elegant, pharmaceutically potent secondary metabolites and, more recently, potential biofuels. It has been demonstrated that some of these compounds are made by symbiotic bacteria and not by the animals themselves, and for a few other compounds evidence exists supporting a symbiotic origin. In didemnid ascidians, compounds are highly variable even in apparently identical animals. Recently, we have explained this variation at the genomic and metagenomic levels and have applied the basic scientific findings to drug discovery and development. This review discusses what is currently known about the origin and variation of symbiotically derived metabolites in ascidians, focusing on the family Didemnidae, where most research has occurred. Applications of our basic studies are also described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA. ews1@utah.edu
authors.forename: Eric W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Mohamed S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Donia
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McIntosh
authors.forename: W Florian
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Fricke
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ravel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001688:Biological Products / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055808:Drug Discovery; D015394:Molecular Structure; D013559:Symbiosis; D014561:Urochordata / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products