A Solution from the Past: Exploring the Untapped Potential of Museum Specimens to Preserve Secondary Metabolites
Abstract
A fundamental pillar of natural products focused drug discovery is that biodiversity results in chemical diversity. To this end, marine natural products researchers have relied on sample collection trips to remote locations, searching for rare and unstudied species. The high cost of sampling trips, increased restriction of sampling permits, and ecosystem degradation have resulted in multiple hurdles to acquiring new samples.
One solution to these issues comes to us from the past, in the form of museum marine invertebrate collections. For hundreds of years, specimens from around the world, covering a diverse range of species, have been consolidated in museums, primarily stored in 90% ethanol. This preserving solution may be an untapped source of new natural products, from specimens with rich scientific history including varying collection depths, dates and locations, high-level taxonomical assignment, and genetic studies.
In collaboration with the Smithsonian Museum, this study explores the ability of this ethanol solution to preserve secondary metabolites over time from two distinct taxa: the tunicate Synoicum and the glass sponge Aphrocallistes, collected between 1945 and 2016. Ethanol preserving solution was concentrated and analyzed using untargeted LC-tandem MS/MS (orbitrap). LC-MS2 data was processed through MZmine3's targeted feature detection workflow, identifying palmerolide A (1) and aphrocallistin B (2), in samples of Synoicum and Aphrocallistes, respectively. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) with an LC-MS QqQ was used to confirm and quantify the presence of 1 and 2, using standards from our in-house library of marine metabolites. Patterns in the chemical composition of each sample were further explored by untargeted LC-IMS-QToF combined with GNPS and SIRIUS spectral libraries.
Home Country
Ireland
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Specialization
Chemistry
Faculty Sponsor
Bill J. Baker
Presentation Type
Event
A Solution from the Past: Exploring the Untapped Potential of Museum Specimens to Preserve Secondary Metabolites
A fundamental pillar of natural products focused drug discovery is that biodiversity results in chemical diversity. To this end, marine natural products researchers have relied on sample collection trips to remote locations, searching for rare and unstudied species. The high cost of sampling trips, increased restriction of sampling permits, and ecosystem degradation have resulted in multiple hurdles to acquiring new samples.
One solution to these issues comes to us from the past, in the form of museum marine invertebrate collections. For hundreds of years, specimens from around the world, covering a diverse range of species, have been consolidated in museums, primarily stored in 90% ethanol. This preserving solution may be an untapped source of new natural products, from specimens with rich scientific history including varying collection depths, dates and locations, high-level taxonomical assignment, and genetic studies.
In collaboration with the Smithsonian Museum, this study explores the ability of this ethanol solution to preserve secondary metabolites over time from two distinct taxa: the tunicate Synoicum and the glass sponge Aphrocallistes, collected between 1945 and 2016. Ethanol preserving solution was concentrated and analyzed using untargeted LC-tandem MS/MS (orbitrap). LC-MS2 data was processed through MZmine3's targeted feature detection workflow, identifying palmerolide A (1) and aphrocallistin B (2), in samples of Synoicum and Aphrocallistes, respectively. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) with an LC-MS QqQ was used to confirm and quantify the presence of 1 and 2, using standards from our in-house library of marine metabolites. Patterns in the chemical composition of each sample were further explored by untargeted LC-IMS-QToF combined with GNPS and SIRIUS spectral libraries.
