Extraction of Endophytic Fungi from Mangroves tested against ESKAPE pathogens via Bioassay Guided Fractionation
Mentor Information
Kristin Herrera (Chemistry)
Description
Natural products chemistry offers an area for novel biologically active molecules in hopes for use in the pharmaceutical/ medicinal industry. In my project, I am hoping to successfully extract bioactive compounds from a mangrove sample and test it against the ESKAPE pathogens via a bioassay guided fractionation. The ESKAPE pathogens are responsible for nosocomial infections throughout the world. Endophytic fungus exhibits chemical interest as it is grown from mangroves, mine being from the Florida Keys. The mangroves experience a unique environment, as they are combating the intense environment that is the ocean. My sample is showing activity against all the ESKAPE pathogens except for the last one, which is the Enterobacter species. So far, I have been able to extract, partition and fractionate my sample; however, I still need to complete drying the fractions and prepare for metabolomics, bioassay, and NMR. We are utilizing two different extraction methods, one which is freeze drying a portion of the fungal extract and using the Soxhlet extractor along with the traditional steeping method, to then compare the approaches and evaluate them for efficiency. If bioassay is successful, and I receive hits in the dried fractions, then I will be able to further fractionate my sample using HPLC to isolate the individual compounds. If time permits, I will be using the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) online library of mass-spectral data to search for spectral similarity within the molecular network and look closely into the clusters to determine the mass difference between nodes.
Extraction of Endophytic Fungi from Mangroves tested against ESKAPE pathogens via Bioassay Guided Fractionation
Natural products chemistry offers an area for novel biologically active molecules in hopes for use in the pharmaceutical/ medicinal industry. In my project, I am hoping to successfully extract bioactive compounds from a mangrove sample and test it against the ESKAPE pathogens via a bioassay guided fractionation. The ESKAPE pathogens are responsible for nosocomial infections throughout the world. Endophytic fungus exhibits chemical interest as it is grown from mangroves, mine being from the Florida Keys. The mangroves experience a unique environment, as they are combating the intense environment that is the ocean. My sample is showing activity against all the ESKAPE pathogens except for the last one, which is the Enterobacter species. So far, I have been able to extract, partition and fractionate my sample; however, I still need to complete drying the fractions and prepare for metabolomics, bioassay, and NMR. We are utilizing two different extraction methods, one which is freeze drying a portion of the fungal extract and using the Soxhlet extractor along with the traditional steeping method, to then compare the approaches and evaluate them for efficiency. If bioassay is successful, and I receive hits in the dried fractions, then I will be able to further fractionate my sample using HPLC to isolate the individual compounds. If time permits, I will be using the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) online library of mass-spectral data to search for spectral similarity within the molecular network and look closely into the clusters to determine the mass difference between nodes.
